The Family Name: Arctic Incident
by Elbereth in April
Summary: Draco Malfoy visits Artemis Fowl at Fowl Manor over the summer. While he's there, Fowl gets a ransom demand for his kidnapped father. Then both boys are drafted into helping the fairies with a goblin uprising.
1. 1: Draco Visits Ireland

The Family Name: The Artic Incident  
  
By Elbereth in April  
  
Copyright 2004  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (that would be J.K. Rowling) or  
Artemis Fowl (by Eoin Colfer). I make no money from this (D'Arvit).  
  
Timeline: The events of Book One of Artemis Fowl occurred, and six months later he was attending his Second Year at Hogwarts. School has just ended. This occurs during Artemis Fowl, Book Two, just before he starts Hogwarts  
Year Three.  
  
Chapter One: Draco Visits Ireland  
  
Draco Malfoy wasn't stupid. He knew opportunity when he saw it, and he knew when to take a chance, and when to leave well enough alone.  
  
Admittedly, sometimes he ignored all his instincts and went too far, but he'd been keeping a cooler head lately. All he had to do was imagine that look of smugness and condescension on the face of one Artemis Fowl, and he usually managed to reign himself back.  
  
In this particular case, he was sitting on his bed, leaning up against a post, his trunk packed and sitting next to him. He was thinking, running through possible conversations and scenarios but in the end he knew he was going to go through with it. After all, he'd done it once. His father just didn't remember it.  
  
Moments later, he was standing at attention in Lucius's study, his father regarding him neutrally, if a bit coldly. "You are packed and ready, I presume."  
  
"Yes, Father."  
  
"You did say you wanted to see Dublin. You're not going to complain about me dragging you on a business trip, are you?"  
  
"Of course not, Father."  
  
"Then why are you still standing here?"  
  
Draco took a deep breath. "Father, I've been thinking about the Chamber of Secrets." He paused to see if a beating would be forthcoming at the mere mention of the name, but his father had apparently gotten over his unreasoning rage by now, a month into summer. His eyes lit up dangerously, but nothing else happened. Draco took another breath and continued, "And I've been thinking about Artemis Fowl. Of course, I would never want to do anything without consulting you first. . ."  
  
"Wise, boy."  
  
He swallowed. "Sir. But, this is what I've been considering. You know Harry Potter and I are enemies, as we were meant to be. But it means I can't get near him to learn his secrets, I don't have foreknowledge of his actions. When the whole fight in the Chamber occurred, I was caught unaware."  
  
"To your own shame," Lucius said dryly, eyes slits.  
  
Draco flushed a bit. His father still reduced him to this, when he was in his actual presence. "Yes, sir. But now we have Artemis Fowl scheming around Hogwarts, and we have the same problem. I know you don't want me associating with him, but he is at least a Slytherin, in my own year, my dorm, we have common ground. Instead of forsaking him entirely, I should be forging--well, a working relationship. A semi-business alliance--you know the kind, where the partners pretend to trust each other. If I have that, I can stick close to him, and watch him, and make sure he doesn't mess things up like Potter always does."  
  
Lucius stared at Draco a long moment before walking forward and standing mere inches from his son, who couldn't stop himself from tensing. He let the boy sweat for a few long seconds, then he suddenly smiled and put one hand on Draco's shoulder. "Perhaps I can make a useful Heir out of you yet. Very well. You have my permission to associate with him. But stay away from any other half-bloods and Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers."  
  
"Yes, Father." Draco hid his own smile.  
  
"Now call the house elves to bring our trunks. It's time to go."

---------------------------------------------

Lucius Malfoy had taken Draco on business trips before. They had been to Ireland a number of times, in fact. This time was a little different. While Lucius went to a shady little pub in Dublin's version of Knockturn Alley, Draco summoned Dobby.  
  
Dobby came promptly, looking both curious and apprehensive. "What is you needing, young master?"  
  
"If you made a visit to Potter's house, then you can navigate around the Muggle world. As I'm not very familiar with it, I require your services. I'm going to visit someone, and I want you to help me get there."  
  
Dobby looked decidedly more nervous. "Where you be going, sir?"  
  
"Fowl Manor." He grinned in satisfaction but the gleam in his eye turned the smile rather wicked. "It's a surprise."

-------------------------------

They Floo'd as close as they could get, then Dobby introduced Draco to a mode of transportation called a taxicab. It seemed Muggles could neither see nor hear the house elf, if he so chose, so he could coach Draco without the driver's notice. However, his urgings that the Malfoy Heir not insult the man's driving were not very effective. By the time they reached the Manor, the cabbie was glad to see him go.  
  
Butler opened the door. Draco grinned at him and waved. "Hello, Butler. Did you miss me?"

--------------------------------------  
  
"I'm so pleased to meet one of Artemis's school friends," Mrs. Angeline Fowl was saying as she led Draco to the guest bedroom. Juliet and Butler tagged along in amusement, and Artemis walked beside him, wondering what Malfoy was doing at his home so unexpectedly.  
  
"It's lovely to be here," Draco replied with a charming smile. He'd been practicing up on those. "I like the place."  
  
"Oh, well." Mrs. Fowl smiled back at him. "The original Fowl Manor was built by Aodhan Fowl in the 1400's. it was a true castle then, of course, meant to keep out the Normans, the English, the Vikings, the Romans--anyone who came too close, really."  
  
"I like it," Draco repeated. "Reminds me of home. Only--more Muggle, obviously. Where are all the candles?"  
  
"It's called electric light, Malfoy. You should try it sometime."  
  
Mrs. Fowl opened the bedroom door and waved her hand. "You can stay here during your visit. Let me know if you need anything."  
  
"It's dark."  
  
"I can see we need to start with the basics," Butler said. "This is the light switch. You switch it on and off."  
  
Draco's eyes widened. "This is that electricity stuff, is it?"  
  
Juliet giggled. "How can you not know about light switches?"  
  
"We don't do electricity in the wizarding world," Draco told her loftily. "Large concentrations of magic tend to interfere with Muggle workings."  
  
Juliet giggled again. "Oh."  
  
"Does she understand what you say?" Draco whispered to Fowl.  
  
"Mainly," Artemis whispered back.

------------------------------------  
  
Juliet sat in Artemis's study, one of Butler's _Guns and Ammo_ magazines open on her lap, watching one of the networked Mac's broadcasting a championship wrestling match. All of the Mac's were busy and running. One was projecting a slide show of Impressionist paintings. One was running CNN's Web site through a DAT projector, throwing oversized images against the back wall. One was scanning through specs and schematics of what looked like a blue cube. One seemed to be trying to piece together a complete sentence from strange scraps of sentence fragments in a language Juliet didn't understand.  
  
Draco stood in the doorway, watching her. Normally Juliet wasn't allowed in this room. But Mrs. Fowl was planning a week-long trip to Nice and Butler was arranging things for her, and Artemis was keeping an eye on the stranger in the house.  
  
Or he had been, up until he had to go use the bathroom, and Draco had taken the opportunity to wander off, just for curiosity's sake. And Draco had never seen anything like this room.  
  
"Computers," he said, drawing Juliet's attention away from the unfortunate wrestler being suplexed by Barnabas the Brute. "Aren't they?"  
  
Juliet jumped up, the magazine falling to the floor. "Um, yes--should you be in here?"  
  
"Those are guns," Draco continued, pointing to the monthly coverspread featuring the latest in automatic weaponry. "I've seen Butler's. They kill people."  
  
Juliet gave the centerfold a covetous look before picking up and closing the magazine. "Yes. . ."  
  
"What are you watching? A box with pictures?"  
  
Juliet trying to explain T.V. to a pureblood wizard would have given even Artemis Fowl a headache, if he'd been there to listen.  
  
As it was, Butler came to relieve Juliet of her post, approximately seven minutes later. "Mrs. Fowl is asking for you, Juliet," he reported. "And Artemis sent me searching for you, Draco."  
  
Draco was regarding the computers and their displays with great suspicion by this point. "These boxes talk and show scenes of things that actually are happening or have happened. She says it's not magic, but she can't explain it to my satisfaction."  
  
Juliet made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. Then she grinned at Butler and went to see Angeline.  
  
"Just accept it," Butler advised him, taking him by the arm and leading him out of the room. "It's Muggle technology. It's all about electricity and satellites and radio waves and things you can't understand without studying science."  
  
"Science?"  
  
"Ask Artemis."  
  
"I will." Draco's eyes narrowed with determination.  
  
Butler hid his amusement. Artemis was going to go crazy trying to get science through this rich wizard's head. It would do them both some good.

------------------------------------  
  
Artemis watched Malfoy covertly as they walked down the grand central staircase and through the hallway full of portraits of his Fowl forebears. Malfoy actually stopped to examine them. "Muggle portraits, of course," Malfoy remarked, and Artemis was unable to determine if Malfoy meant that in a superior way. He had been feeling rather off balance since Malfoy had appeared uninvited on his doorstep, to tell the truth.  
  
"Actually, it's probably a relief they don't talk." Malfoy turned and faced him abruptly, a half-smirk, half-smile on his face. Artemis felt his own expression match it involuntarily.  
  
"Seriously, Fowl, do you mind having me here? My father's in Dublin on business and I was bored and--well, I wanted some company. But I can--"  
  
"Never mind, Malfoy. I don't mind having you here." It was true, to his surprise, he didn't mind at all. Even as he thought this, his surprise was fading into something like acceptance. "I've seen your place, now you're seeing mine. I've never had company over before, actually, but it's fitting that it's you."  
  
Draco smiled now, a real smile. "Got any homework done?"  
  
"All completed, of course. I've been reading ahead. Researching various people and theories on my own. But how did you convince your father to let you visit me?"  
  
Draco explained. Artemis listened a bit stiffly, shoulders pulled back, somewhat offended that even Lucius Malfoy would deign to believe that he, Artemis Fowl the Second, could be so deceived, but he had to conclude that in the long run, it made everything easier. "So be it."  
  
A hawk and an owl chose that moment to wing their way to the two boys, one landing on each. "Message from Blaise," Artemis announced, pulling the parchment from the hawk's leg. "He's bored, he misses Chevalier, he's grown two inches, and he's out of chocolate frogs."  
  
"This one's from Greg. He went hunting with Vince, but now he's bored and he doesn't understand any of his Potions or Charms homework." Draco looked up and grinned wryly. "Nor any of the other subjects, probably."  
  
"I'll send him some advice. It'd be a shame if our lives were thrown out of balance by him flunking out of Hogwarts."  
  
"Good point. Better do the same for Crabbe. Nice suits of armor, by the way." He indicated with his chin the 15th Century plate mail they were passing.  
  
"Thank you. Right over there is where Butler fought the troll."  
  
"Really? Cool!"  
  
"Care for some caviar?"  
  
"Ah, Fowl. Muggle-ized or not, you're still civilized. Lead on."

-------------------------------  
  
Two days later, Artemis's mother and Juliet had left on their trip to Italy, and Artemis was in his study, reading an email from Granger. She had gone on holiday to France with her parents, where she was immersing herself in the local history of witchcraft--it was, she wrote, fascinating. She also reported that the Weasley family had gone on a trip to Egypt to visit one of Ron's many brothers. Artemis, like Granger, had been keeping up with the wizarding world by subscribing to the _Daily Prophet_. Weasley's photo had been in there recently. Her only mention of Potter was to say she hoped his awful Muggle relatives weren't treating him too badly.  
  
Artemis had just sent back a reply when Malfoy knocked on the partially opened study door. "Come on in," he called.  
  
"You're up early. And in here again. Really, Fowl, this is not a friendly environment," Draco complained. "It's so--magically sterile. I don't think these computers are good for you."  
  
Artemis smirked. "Man strikes out at what he does not understand."  
  
"Hey, I understand enough! These things are like--they spy on people and gather information. Oh, they can provide other things--entertainment, for one--but mostly you use them for gaining knowledge and thereby power. I know you, Artemis Fowl."  
  
Artemis blinked at him. Maybe having Malfoy in his home was a bad idea after all. He could pick up entirely too much. Just because the blonde didn't understand how technology worked didn't mean he should be underestimating him. He'd been altogether too careless. "Listen, Malfoy. . ." he began, but he was interrupted by a voice coming over the computer. "Zdrav--" Then static. Then sound again, "Zdrav--ut--n."  
  
Artemis frowned, moving his fingers over keys. "Zdravstvutye--" More static. "Zdravstvutye syn."  
  
Malfoy pulled a chair around the desk and sat next to Fowl. He was frowning, too.  
  
A terrible feeling of foreboding had insinuated itself into Artemis's gut. Ignoring Malfoy, he concentrated on the computer. He had received an email with an MPG video file. He swallowed uneasily and called it up.  
  
At first he thought the picture was defective, but then he realized it was a field of white snow. In the distance was a black hunched object. The cameraman moved closer, his boots crunching on the snow the only sound. The object was a man, tied to a chair, dressed in what had once been an expensive suit, now only rags. His face was scarred, and one leg might have been missing. A cardboard sign hung around his neck. It carried the same message: "Zdravstvutye syn." Then the picture went blank.  
  
Artemis felt Malfoy's hand on his shoulder, and realized his own breath was coming in jumps and heaves.  
  
Draco felt Fowl's shoulder shaking under his touch. "Are you OK?" A nod. "That was Russian. You know what it says?"  
  
A shrug that was more of a flinch, but the voice was surprisingly steady. "Do you?"  
  
"I speak four languages, Fowl. It said, 'Hello, son.'" Fowl closed his eyes so briefly Draco wondered if he'd imagined it. "Was that. . . your father?"  
  
Artemis rewound the image and froze it on the man's face. "I think so." Voice still steady, but barely above a whisper. "The picture quality is too poor--I can't be certain."  
  
"Why--why would--?"  
  
"This is to get my attention." Artemis turned and looked at him. His eyes were wide with shock, but flat, dead--and still deadly. Malfoy shivered. "There will be a ransom demand, next. I must tell Butler."  
  
He pressed an intercom on the desk, calling Butler to the study. He looked at Malfoy again. "You should go back to Dublin."  
  
"Fowl--kidnappers don't just turn over their hostages. They kill them. They kill everybody, generally."  
  
Fowl regarded him for a long moment. "Of course. I will devise a plan."  
  
"If they sent you this through that computer, they're Muggle. If they're strictly Muggle, Fowl, we can handle them. No problem. We took out Riddle-- twice."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Aren't two wizards better than one--even with Butler?"  
  
When Fowl didn't answer, Draco stood up, abruptly angry. "You really think I'd leave you to deal with this on your own? Our current status is still allies! At least I thought we were allies. Did you or did you not say you'd help me escape being a Death Eater?"  
  
Artemis swallowed, his eyes suddenly very bright and very blue. "Yes. And I will."  
  
"So, I'll owe you, right? Why not pay it now?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"This is your father--the wonderful, mysterious Artemis Fowl, Senior. Right? I know what he means to you."  
  
"I never. . ."  
  
"Oh, don't deny it. You have feelings. Yes, even you." Draco waved his hand. "Big. Deal."  
  
"Malfoy--"  
  
Once again, he talked right over him. "It's all right. We don't have to ever mention this conversation again. You get to planning. Just make sure you include me in your plan."  
  
Artemis felt light-headed, whether from shock or relief or apprehension, he honestly didn't know. He drew a deep breath, not nearly as shaky as the last, and made up his mind. "All right. Just--thanks, Malfoy."  
  
Malfoy gave him a grave, dignified nod. Artemis nodded back, more grateful than he wanted to admit. Then Butler entered and they got to work.

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A/N: I want to thank again everybody who reviewed my last story, especially the repeaters. I hope you like this. I decided this needed to be written before I did the Third Year story, but that shall be written eventually, as well. 


	2. 2: Holly Picks Up Guys

The Family Name: The Artic Incident  
  
By Elbereth in April  
  
Chapter 2: Holly Picks Up Guys  
  
The MPG was untraceable, whatever that meant. Draco sat in the corner and listened to Artemis throwing ideas at Butler. "Not enough definition to get a geographical fix on location, either."  
  
"How fast can we get to Russia?"  
  
"We can't go by air--the Mafiya will have a presence at every airstrip."  
  
"Are we sure it's the Mafiya?"  
  
Butler nodded. "All kidnappings go through the Mafiya."  
  
"They sort of like Death Eaters?" Draco ventured.  
  
"Well, yes, sort of. . ."  
  
"We can take the International Floo Network. But it's rather limited in places like Russia. Only a certain number of substations. Then you'd have to apparate (which we don't know how to do), travel by land or broom, or switch over to a local Floo system. Russia's Floo network isn't the greatest, to be honest."  
  
"How do you know so much about Russia?" Butler asked.  
  
"One of my father's friends, Dolohov, is from there. He went to Durmstrang. That's where Father wanted to send me to school--that's the main reason I speak Russian. Somehow Mother convinced him to send me to Hogwarts instead. But anyway, Durmstrang's in Russia. It has connections with Bulgaria, Poland, the whole Baltic area."  
  
"How about IDs?"  
  
"It might be better to go native," Butler suggested. "Russians arouse less suspicion in Russia. I have passports and visas."  
  
"For Muggles. When you're around Russian wizards, well, frankly it's better to be a pureblood."  
  
Butler and Artemis exchanged a look. Artemis nodded slowly. "We need to move quickly. We need to find these people before they know we're looking. We'll monitor email as we go. We can switch back and forth between Muggle technology and magic as necessary."  
  
Draco sneered. "Muggles and their guns."  
  
"If they can shoot your wand faster than you can say your spell, you're in trouble, Malfoy."  
  
"They have to know to aim for it." Muttering, he added, "Another reason not to mix the breeds."  
  
"Any Russian gangster will assume whatever you've got in your hands is a weapon," Butler interrupted. "They won't wait to think, 'Oh, that's just a pointy stick.' You'll already have a bullet in your heart by the time they think it through. Unless we're careful, this could get bloody, magic or no."  
  
"So," said Artemis, "we'll be careful."  
  
"You've got a plan?"  
  
"By the time we're there, I will have."  
  
Neither Butler nor Draco were overly concerned. When a plan was needed, Artemis always had one.

-----------------------------------  
  
Holly watched the three humans walk out toward the car. The boys got in as Butler went around to the other side. Finding Malfoy and Fowl together was either an incredible piece of luck or definite proof the two were working together against the People.  
  
She sighed and checked her gun one last time. Commander Root had sent her to bag these three and she intended to do so, but it did not do to underestimate Butler.  
  
She came at him from the air, flying via the latest Double Dex wing technology. She was shielded, she was silent--she wasn't even breathing-- but Butler stopped, one hand on the car door, and sniffed the air. And he was carrying weaponry--Sig Sauer, according to Foaly's records, nine millimeter. Dangerous.  
  
Holly scowled and released her visor seals, causing a hissing sound that Butler immediately heard and spun toward. "Fairy, I know you're there. Unshield or I start shooting."  
  
'Great,' Holly thought sarcastically. 'This is not how I hoped this would go.' She unshielded, staring directly into Butler's eyes. "Hello, Butler."  
  
Butler's finger was on the trigger of his gun. "Hello, Captain. What are you doing? Don't try any. . ."  
  
_"Put your gun away, Butler,"_ Holly commanded, lacing her voice with the hypnotic mesmer.  
  
He fought it, to her chagrin. It took a strong dose of magic before Butler obeyed, and opened the car door. A moment later, she had him seated.  
  
Holly had reshielded, of course. Now she was staring past Butler into the car, where the two boys sat, silent, and somehow alerted to her presence. How did Fowl always know?  
  
Fowl sat calmly in the seat behind Butler, staring right at her. Malfoy sat next to him, wand in hand. Fowl had his right hand held out in the other boy's direction, as if he had just told him to wait--talk first, hex later. "Captain Short, I presume," Fowl said. "Why don't you settle into the visible spectrum?"  
  
Holly did. Both boys stared at the gun in her hand. "Hello, Holly," Draco ventured. "Are you here to arrest Fowl?"  
  
"How did you know I was here?" Holly regarded them with narrowed eyes. Fowl always had some trick up his sleeve.  
  
"Butler didn't check for car bombs, and he left the door open. Plus, I saw a haze as you entered the vehicle. Simple. Now why are you here?"  
  
"As if you didn't know."  
  
"Obviously something has happened. And despite our recent partnership, it would appear I am being held responsible for it." He thought a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "Humans are trading with the People."  
  
"Impressive," Holly scoffed, "or it would be, if we didn't know you're behind it. If we can't get the truth out of you, I'm sure your computer files will prove most revealing."  
  
"Computers again," Draco mumbled, glancing at the laptop on the seat between the boys.  
  
"Captain. Apparently I'm still unforgiven, but I don't have time for this now. Give me a few days and then I'll answer all the questions you want."  
  
"Right, give you enough time to hide all the evidence, is that what you want? Well, nothing doing. There are a few people underground who would like a word."  
  
"What are you accusing him of?" Draco asked, frowning.  
  
Holly grinned at him. "We're accusing you both. You're coming, too, Malfoy."  
  
"What are we supposed to be trading? And with who?" Draco demanded, brushing this off as inconsequential.  
  
"You already know. Now, be quiet. _Drive south_," she commanded Butler through the mesmer.  
  
"Taking us to Tara, I suppose," Artemis commented. "I've often wondered where exactly the entrance to E1 was."  
  
"Keep wondering, Mud Boy." Holly settled in the passenger seat next to Butler. _"Now sleep. All this deduction is wearing me out._"  
  
Artemis did so. Butler kept driving.  
  
"You don't believe in innocent until proven guilty, I see. Don't intend to tell us the charges or let us try to prove we're falsely accused."  
  
Holly whipped back around. _"Go to sleep, too!"  
_  
Draco held up his wand. "Holly, please. Father taught me his spell against your glamour. Look, I'm not going to make trouble," he hastily assured her as she scowled and raised her gun. "Frankly, I think the odds are in your favor. I'm learning to respect Muggle weapons. Not that I'm happy about it. But I would like to know what's ahead of me."  
  
Holly stared at him for a long moment. He sounded so reasonable and polite. "We're just taking you for interrogation," she offered finally. "We won't hurt you or anything. Foaly has ways to tell beyond any doubt if you're involved in the illegal selling of contraband to the People. He can directly search your memories."  
  
Draco nodded respectfully. "Thank you. I can tell you in total honesty that I am not involved in any such activity. I can't say with 100% certainty, but I don't believe Fowl, Butler, or my father are, either. I don't suppose you'll simply take my word, though." He looked at her hopefully.  
  
Holly's scowl softened into a thoughtful frown. If she had to bet, her instinct told her Malfoy was sincere. "If you're innocent, Malfoy, we'll just release you after your questioning. Like I said, we won't hurt you. I promise."  
  
Draco relaxed minutely. Oddly, Holly felt better after he had done so. She scowled again, then consciously forced herself to stop. "Had any dealings with goblins?"  
  
Now Draco frowned. "At Gringott's Bank."  
  
"No that's an entirely different race." Holly leaned back against the seat, facing Draco. "I know the creatures you're referring to. They call themselves goblins, but they're technically a different subspecies--highly intelligent, resourceful independent. No, there's another group of creatures who also call themselves goblins. They live underground, at least they're supposed to, but recently they have become increasingly involved in smuggling. The criminal element is the B'wa Kell goblin triad. They've been coming aboveground more and more, even building their own shuttles. The problem is goblins are as dumb as dirt. They forget to shield, they get caught associating with Mud Men, and then our secret's not a secret anymore. We can't have that, as you know, Malfoy. Trading between Mud Men and fairies is a serious offence."  
  
Draco listened closely and now nodded seriously. "What kind of things would you even trade?"  
  
Holly hesitated. If Foaly hadn't been busy with the goblin shuttle they'd found, he would have been whispering in her ear by now, "Don't tell!" But her instincts were still directing her, and Holly went with them. "Batteries."  
  
Malfoy continued to stare at her. "Batter-what? Is that like cake batter?"  
  
Now it was Holly's turn to stare. "Batteries. They power things--razors, portable CD players, T.V. remote controls. . ."  
  
"Oh--you're talking about something Muggle, aren't you?"  
  
Holly started laughing. This had been what her inner sense must have realized before her brain did. Of course the Malfoy boy wasn't smuggling batteries--he was old, pureblood wizarding stock. He didn't even know what a battery was!  
  
Of course, the same could not be said for Fowl and his accomplices. "All right, Malfoy. Why do you think Fowl is innocent?"  
  
"Because I've been visiting him the last couple days and he hasn't shown any signs of working on such a project. In fact, he has currently dropped everything to go on another rescue mission, and when he wakes up, he is not going to be happy about the delay."  
  
"What kind of rescue mission?" Holly looked over at Fowl with deep skepticism.  
  
"I--think I'd better let him tell you if he's so inclined."  
  
Holly nodded slowly. "Very well. But I'm still taking the three of you underground for questioning. And I really do wish you'd go to sleep now. And put your wand away."  
  
"I'm not sleepy. And you're still holding your gun."  
  
"Hmm." Could she stun him before he cast a spell on her? Probably. Should she? Especially since he seemed to be innocent? "Want me to show you how Fowl's laptop works?" That should keep him occupied and out of her hair.  
  
Malfoy blinked, then smirked. "Show me."  
  
Butler continued to drive.

--------------------------------------  
  
"They're innocent," Foaly pronounced, removing the Retimager seals from Fowl's eyes. "He's never even seen a goblin. Nothing incriminating on his computer files, either."  
  
Commander Root scratched his chin as Holly sighed and nodded.  
  
"I'm afraid the LEP pulled in the wrong Mud Men. Wipe em and send em home," Foaly finished.  
  
"Wait a minute." Root held up a hand. "Since they're already here. . ."  
  
Holly's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. "Commander, you don't know Fowl like I do. Mellowed or not, give him an opening and he'll be a bigger problem than the goblins."  
  
"Maybe he could help us with the Mud Man problem."  
  
Holly shook her head vehemently. "Fowl already knows too much about our affairs."  
  
"Someone is arming the B'wa Kell," Root snapped, face turning red. "Someone is powering those softnose lasers. The goblins can't have figured this out on their own--they're just too stupid. I have to learn who is behind this, who is the brains of the operation. If Fowl can help with that, I'll ask him!"  
  
Holly looked down. Sure, he'd help. He'd helped them save Officer Kelp. But what was he getting out of it? What would he want this time? Root didn't understand just how devious Fowl could be!  
  
"Wake up the boys, Foaly. Give them translators. Speaking Mud Man gives me a headache."

--------------------------------  
  
Draco rubbed his face, still groggy. Artemis felt the puffiness of the skin beneath his eyes and glanced at Foaly. "Sedative in the seals? Micro needles?"  
  
Foaly looked duly impressed. "You're pretty sharp for a Mud Boy."  
  
Artemis touched a module attached to his ear. "Translator?"  
  
"Did you decide we're not felons, then?" Draco interrupted. He gave Foaly a slow once-over. "You must be the centaur."  
  
A nod. "Foaly."  
  
Artemis smiled. "And this, Malfoy, is the LEPRecon Commander."  
  
The commander glowered darkly, a cigar in his mouth. "Commander Root."  
  
"Now then, Commander, how may I be of service?"  
  
Root chomped down on his cigar. "What makes you think we need you?"  
  
"I'm awake, here, underground. If you didn't need us, you'd have sent us back up and mind-wiped us."  
  
"True enough," Root replied. "Show them, Foaly."  
  
Foaly loaded a computer file, and the screen in front of them lit up with a series of news clips. They showed reports of the B'wa Kell and their smuggling, their sabotage of Koboi Laboratories, and setting fire to businesses that refused to pay protection fees. Then came a report of an angry mob of citizens storming Police Plaza in a protest over the LEP's failure to deal with the goblin problem.  
  
"We don't know who's organizing them," Root told the boys as Foaly froze the images. "But it keeps getting worse. The B'wa Kell seem to have declared war on the police. Then last night we intercepted a delivery of batteries from the surface. These batteries are being used to power outlawed softnose laser weapons."  
  
"Why do you assume there's a human contact?"  
  
"Because goblins are Just. Plain. Stupid. One of their top generals was caught with a forged credit card, because he signed his own name. Trust me, they have to have a human contact to keep the deals from being messed up."  
  
"So you want me to find out who he is and how much he knows."  
  
Draco watched Fowl think. To Draco's mind, this was all Fowl's deal. It was his father, waiting on the line. But he knew what Fowl must be thinking. A trade-off. . . the fairies could a valuable asset to the rescue.  
  
Meanwhile, Root was nodding. "I can't put my agents aboveground. But you humans could blend in."  
  
"If anyone could track down your rogue trader, it's Butler. But. . ." He paused significantly. Root and Holly glanced at each other.  
  
"But? What do you want in return?"  
  
"I need help to get to the Artic Circle. I need help with a rescue."  
  
"Northern Russia isn't good," Root frowned. "We can't shield there because of the radiation."  
  
"That's my condition." Artemis met Root's eyes. "I'm rescuing my father. It may already be too late. I don't have time to negotiate."  
  
Holly's face scrunched up. "Your father?"  
  
"His father," Draco said. "Artemis Fowl the First. He means what he says."  
  
"Deal," Root nodded again, and held out his hand.  
  
Fowl shook it. Draco leaned back in his chair and glanced at Holly. She still looked skeptical. What did it take to convince that girl they weren't evil?  
  
"Good." Root turned to Foaly. "Wake the big one and get that goblin shuttle ready. And you, Holly—as the best shuttle pilot we have--you're going to Paris."

----------------------------------------  
  
A/N: I put a lot of the Artic Incident book in unchanged, which I really didn't want to do. But, certain events (like the whole goblin uprising) would take place exactly the same even with Draco in the mix. Plus, I want to make sure you know what's going on, in case you don't remember how the book goes. I'm trying to balance. Let me know what you think.


	3. 3: Serious Questions and Some Snow

The Family Name: The Artic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 3: Serious Questions (and Some Snow)

Draco Malfoy found himself riding in what he was told was a goblin shuttle--and apparently not a very good one--piloted by the fairy, Holly Short. Fowl was on his other side, and Butler beside him.

"I still would have preferred the Floo network," he mumbled.

"We can't take the Floo with the fairies."

"I know, you said. Too many humans would see them and their secret would be out." Draco rolled his eyes.

Fowl half-smiled at him, then moved up to the copilot's chair. "How close is the Russian terminal to Murmansk?"

Holly glared at him. "Civilians behind the yellow line."

Artemis took a deep breath. "It's important. I have to devise a plan for the rescue."

"Don't you find it ironic that a kidnapper needs help with a kidnapping?"

"Holly, I was a criminal. . ."

"Was?" Holly and Draco interjected at the same time.

Artemis silenced Draco with a look and turned his attention back to Holly. "When I abducted you, I was only thinking of the ransom. You weren't supposed to be in any danger."

Holly snorted. "Apart from biobombs and trolls."

"The LEP sent in the troll. . ." Artemis sighed and broke off. "Sometimes plans don't translate smoothly from paper to real life."

'_Was that an apology?'_ Holly wondered.

Draco shifted in his seat. It wasn't right, seeing Artemis Fowl. . . reduced to pleading with a fairy. He was Artemis Fowl. It wasn't right. "Holly, help us out," he found himself saying. "He's right, this is important. A man's life is at stake here."

Startled, Artemis gave Malfoy a very different sort of look from the first one he'd given him. Artemis was astonished that Malfoy was helping him out like this. _'After all,' _Artemis reasoned, _'I was losing face, begging with her. Shouldn't Malfoy be just sitting back and laughing at his rival? Now Malfoy's shamed, too, and it's not even his father.'_

Draco continued, "I know you don't like us, but we did rescue your officer for you. I told you all kinds of secrets--about my own house. Can't you share your information with us now? Everyone keeps saying how dangerous the Mafiya is. We need your help. D'arvit, Holly, this is his father."

Artemis swallowed. _'No, Draco hasn't been shamed at all. He's being. . . noble. How can there be loss of dignity in that?'_

Now it was Holly's turn to feet shamed. She knew it wasn't easy growing up without a father--she'd been barely 60 when her own father had died. And look at the kind of father Lucius Malfoy was. Yet Draco appeared to be trying to reunite Fowl with his father without any thoughts of selfishness or jealousy. Maybe the blonde had gotten in with the wrong crowd--meaning Fowl--and maybe he came from a line of dark wizards. But now a hint of goodness seemed to be shining through. Maybe, just maybe, she could help out Draco Malfoy even if she could never trust Artemis Fowl.

Or maybe even Fowl was salvageable?

All this flashed through her mind in a second. Then she spoke. "Very well, listen up." The boys leaned in, as did Butler. "With the advances in human technology over the last two centuries, the LEP have had to shut down a large number of terminals. We abandoned northern Russia in the 1960's. The entire Kola peninsula is a nuclear disaster, and the People have no tolerance for radiation. Plus we've never particularly liked the Artic--it's too cold. So what we have left in Russia is one unmanned terminal with little or no aboveground facilities, about 20 klicks north of Murmansk."

Artemis tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair.

"I've got my broom with me."

Artemis raised his eyebrows.

"It's shrunken down--which really isn't good for it, but anyway--I only have to reverse the spell if we need it. It's in my pocket."

"Hmm." Artemis's face relaxed into his planning expression.

Draco smiled and looked over at Butler. Butler smiled back.

The centaur's voice came through the speakers. "OK, Captain. You've got a clear run. Take it easy on the thrusters--this is the humans' first time seeing the chutes. Don't frighten them."

Holly smiled rather maliciously and gunned the throttle. "No, of course not."

The humans fastened their safety restraints.

Holly smirked and made her way into the main chute. It was deeper than infinity, pulsing with a red glow from the earth's core. Holly let the shuttle plunge into the abyss. Even in this trash can of a goblin ship, which could barely even run, she felt the rush of adrenaline. Holly was no daredevil, really, but she couldn't hold back from wanting that thrill of exhilaration when she flew. Eventually she pulled out of the dive, leveling out. To her satisfaction, Fowl and Butler sighed in relief. But Malfoy laughed.

"That would be great on a broom," he said, grinning at her.

With a sudden lightening of her heart, Holly read in his eyes that same need for glory and speed. She couldn't help herself; she grinned back. "We might make a regular flyboy out of you yet."

Draco leaned back, crossing his legs. "I **am** a Seeker."

She spoke into her headset. "How's it look aboveground, Foaly?"

"I can't tell a thing--there's too much radiation from that last flare. You're on your own, Holly."

"Don't worry," Draco drawled, still lounging at ease. "You have us."

At that, Holly's eyebrows rose and her mouth quirked into a rather funny expression, indeed. "Oh, that's just what I need."

* * *

They arrived at Shuttleport E37. The landing lights came on. Holly frowned. "Those lights shouldn't be working," she muttered. "There hasn't been a power source in this terminal since the last century. The goblins couldn't have fixed it. Only elves would know how."

Artemis tapped a finger on the arm of the chair. "The plot thickens. I smell a traitor. Who would have access to all this technology and a motive for selling it?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Once you get me the trader, my mesmer will have him spilling his guts."

She finished docking the shuttle and showed them where they were on a map of Paris. "According to Foaly, the goblin prisoner has seen this human." She brought a photo up on screen. "He's in Interpol files. Luc Carrere. Here's his address. Immobilize him and show him this." Holly handed Butler what looked like a watch. "It's a com-screen, so I can see Carrere and mesmerize him from down here. I can't go topside--orders. This could be a trap. You're expendable. But this," she indicated the watch, "also contains a shield called the Safetynet. Six foot radius--just touch the screen."

Butler put the watch around his wrist. "You boys, stay here."

Artemis blinked. "Stay here?"

"Don't worry, you'll see everything on the iris-cam."

"What if you need magic?" Artemis protested.

"This kind of thing is my forte," Butler smiled. "I can handle one Muggle."

They watched as Butler entered Luc Carrere's apartment. Draco was fascinated by the iris-cam. Privately, he was beginning to reconsider the benefits of technology.

The Frenchman had some kind of weapon, so Butler approached him cautiously. Holly examined Luc and sighed. "His brain doesn't know a thing. Look at his eyes. He's been mesmerized a number of times. Mesmerizing him again won't tell us anything. He's just following orders at this point."

"Butler, get out of there," Artemis said into the microphone.

Butler wanted to, but he didn't dare move. Carrere was watching him, hand on his gun. When Butler tried to question him about the batteries, Luc pulled the trigger.

Butler protected himself with the Safetynet shield, then disarmed Carrere and left. He heard sirens as he ran out the door. The Frenchman was about to be caught sitting in a room littered with his smuggling pay-off money--which Butler had noticed with some satisfaction was counterfeit.

* * *

After Butler was back on board, they returned to LEP headquarters. Fowl was feeling increasingly anxious about his father, but he didn't show it. Besides, when he'd made the bargain, he'd calculated all the odds. Even with the delay, they stood the best chance of a successful rescue with Holly's help.

Now they were sitting in a conference room with Commander Root and Foaly, having just finished their debriefing. Root had just ordered Trouble Kelp, the fairy they'd helped rescue, to try and shake loose any goblin gangs from the deep tunnels. They still needed to know who was organizing the goblins, and why.

Despite everything, now that Artemis had a puzzle, his mind kept turning it over. "Does anyone else think this is too easy? That whole scenario was suspicious."

Root bristled. "We've doubled security at all chutes and the Paris connection has been stopped. The humans still don't know about the people. That's the most important thing. The rest will require an internal investigation. So don't worry your juvenile head about it."

Foaly interrupted quickly. "About Russia--I've got a lead. I traced the email."

"But it was spiked."

"Don't make me laugh. You Mud Men are so backward. **I **can trace it."

This was all over Draco's head. He just watched Fowl's face.

"Where did you trace it to?"

"Murmansk. Only two matches. The Hall of Justice, or a Mikhael Vassikin on Lenin Prospect."

"What do we know about him?"

"I ran a search on my own intelligence files archive. Quite a few mentions of you, Butler." Draco smirked. "Vassikin is ex-KGB, now working for the Mafiya as an enforcer. His boss is called Britva. Most of their money comes from kidnapping European businessmen. In the last five years, they've abducted seven."

"How many were recovered alive?" Artemis whispered.

"None. In two cases, the negotiators went missing. $8 million lost in ransom."

Butler stood up. "Enough talk. It's time for Mr. Vassikin to meet Mr. Fist."

"Yes," Artemis said, "but you're not going to be one of the lost negotiators. We have to be smarter than him. We already know who the kidnapper is and where he lives. Plus we have fairy backup." Artemis looked at Root. "We do have fairy backup, don't we?"

"You have me," Root replied. "I won't force my people to go to Russia, though."

"I'm going," Holly put in sharply. "I'm the best shuttle pilot you have."

"And you have magic." Draco crossed his arms. "And me."

Artemis actually smiled at him. "Yes. I do."

* * *

Root had commandeered the Atlantean ambassador's shuttle and they were now en route north. Holly pulled out strange polymer suits from a locker and shoved them at the boys. "Anti-radiation," she explained.

They suited up; the material shrunk to fit. "Clever," Artemis said. Draco shrugged. Magic did the same thing.

"What about me?" Butler asked. He was wearing enough fairy weaponry to outfit a small squadron.

"We don't have anything large enough. But. . ." Holly smirked at him and held up a spray can. "Hold still. This'll smell, but at least your skin won't glow in the dark."

After that, they bundled up in gloves and overcoats. It was cold in northern Russia.

"We can't shield," Holly told them. "The vibration makes the suits useless."

Artemis frowned.

"We move out in five," Commander Root took charge. "I want everybody armed and dangerous."

Draco twirled his wand around in his hand, expertly rolling it between each finger. "Oh, we're armed."

Artemis moved his own wand to a more accessible pocket.

Draco looked at Fowl, the brains behind the mission, as always, he thought with a wry inner smile. "What's the plan?"

"We'll set up a surveillance post near Vassikin's apartment. At the first opportunity, Butler will snatch our Russian friend and we'll chat. He'll tell us whatever we need to know under the mesmer. Then we'll stupefy the guards and rescue my father."

"If things don't go according to plan?" Root growled.

"We improvise."

The fairies both looked decidedly uneasy at the look in his eyes. Butler remained implacably calm. Draco shrugged and smirked at Holly. "It's alright; we're Slytherin."

* * *

They left the fairy terminal and entered into an icy artic night. They couldn't get Foaly on the line--the Commander blamed magma flares. "We'll have to walk," Root decided. "Butler, you lead. Capt. Short, bring up the rear."

They followed a railway line. It was easier to walk that way, as the snow wasn't piled up in such large drifts there. They didn't talk much--it was just too cold.

Finally Holly looked at Artemis and spoke. "Fowl, your father. Is he like you?"

Draco watched Artemis tense. "That's a strange question. Why do you ask?"

"I'm naturally concerned for the People. Will this man we rescue try to destroy us?"

Artemis took a breath and Draco moved a little closer. He was glad there were no desks around them to explode--just in case.

"You have no cause to be alarmed," he replied after a long moment of silence. "Some of my father's ventures may have been illegal but my father was--is--a noble man. The idea of harming another creature would be repugnant to him."

"So what happened to you?"

Draco's eyes widened. Fowl's expression remained carefully neutral. "I. . . I made a mistake."

Holly tried to see his face from her position slightly behind him. Was he sincere? She no longer knew how to take Artemis Fowl. She couldn't dismiss him as nothing but a villain anymore.

And Malfoy--she saw the way Malfoy was looking at him with concern. The boy had loyalty. Wasn't that the trait of a good man?

But now Malfoy was turning to her, and he was scowling. "What about you? You're a policeman. Your whole job is harming people."

Holly spluttered. "I arrest criminals!"

"Right. You abduct people out of their normal lives using deadly force and then lock them away."

"People who are harming others!"

The scowl dropped away and Malfoy stared at her with inscrutable eyes. "Still people. You're just like those self-righteous Gryffindors; everything's black and white to you. Maybe they don't want to harm anybody. Sometimes you don't have much choice."

Holly just blinked at him, mouth open. Draco sneered and turned away, only to see Fowl staring at him with a strange expression again. "What?"

"Remember once when I told you that you were complicated and unpredictable?" Fowl answered with a lifting of his eyebrows. "You still are."

Draco's lips quirked.

Holly fell back, ignoring them. The corners of Fowl's mouth lifted up in response to the other boy's almost smile.

They moved into a ravine, and saw Butler raise a hand for them to stop. Root hurried forward. "Is there trouble?"

Butler was peering around. "This would be a good spot for an ambush."

Root shook his head. "Nobody could know we're coming."

"Oh? What about them?" Draco pointed at four shapes rising above the ridge. It was a goblin hit squad.

Butler grabbed a boy in each hand and flung them into a snow drift. "Stay down," he ordered, drawing his weapon. Root and Holly did, as well. The goblins hovered 1,000 feet above them.

"Captain Short and I will stun them," Root told Butler. "No need for anyone to die."

So saying, Holly and Root began to fire--that is, they tried. But nothing happened when they pulled the trigger. They tried other weapons they were carrying, without result.

"I checked these myself." Root's brows were drawn together anxiously.

Artemis got his face out of the snow. "It has to be sabotage. This is why goblins need softnose weapons, because they've somehow disrupted fairy lasers."

"Who could do that?" Draco asked him.

The adults were ignoring them as they focused on the goblins. The hit squad had no problems with their weapons, as they proved when several laser shots burst around them.

"We need cover. Fast."

"Are they close enough to hit with magic?" Artemis asked Malfoy.

"Maybe. Barely. It's worth a try."

"After we get under cover," Butler said brusquely, picking up both boys again and making for an icy overhang under the ridge. The fairies followed.

They ducked under the canopy of ice. Butler shielded Artemis with his body.

"OK, now they're too far away," Draco sighed, but he pulled out his wand anyway.

Holly activated her helmet Optix, zooming in on the goblins. "They're all firing, but not at us. They're shooting way over our heads." She looked puzzled.

Butler felt his stomach clench. "It's a trap! Out, out!" He grabbed the two boys and threw them. Just about then, 50 tons of rock, ice, and snow set into motion by the goblin fire crashed down on the party.


	4. 4: Goblins and Dwarves

The Family Name: The Artic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 4: Goblins and Dwarves

Draco and Artemis pulled themselves out of another snowdrift as quickly as possible and looked over at where they'd been standing. "The ledge hasn't collapsed yet," Artemis breathed, "but it will."

Indeed, the only thing holding it up was debris. The others were trapped underneath by thick columns of rock and ice blocking the cave's opening like bars.

Draco swallowed. "Are they alive? How do we get them out?"

Artemis pulled out his wand and walked forward. "Stay back, Fowl!" Root called out to him. "We're pinned down. Capt. Short is injured and Butler is unconscious."

"Hang on," Artemis tried to sound confident and reassuring. "We'll use magic to get you out." What could be wrong with Butler?

"Mind the goblins!" Holly yelled, sounding strained. She must be in pain.

"Don't do anything to bring down the roof!"

"All right," Artemis said, walking back to Draco. "Are you strong enough to transfigure some of the rocks? I'll tell you which ones. It's a matter of mathematics. If you only remove certain ones--well, with luck, the ledge won't come down."

Draco thought, then nodded.

"To be on the safe side, I'll cast a levitation spell on the ice directly above them, in case it should fall."

"What if the goblins shoot at us again?"

"They seem to be ignoring us right now. They're just hovering and staring. Their dead friend might have something to do with it. He was too close to the falling ice. Goblins **are** stupid."

Draco half-smirked. "Let's get on with it then, before they notice us again."

Artemis pointed out the rocks he wanted Malfoy to transfigure. "On 3. 1--2--3."

Draco pointed his wand and concentrated. This was hard work. He felt sweat break out on his body. It froze to his skin. He scowled. Slowly the rocks began to change texture and density. They remained the same size and color; that was easier. When he was done he had rocks as soft and light-weight as pillows.

The ledge started to shift. Artemis cast a widespread Wingardium Leviosa with a basic shielding charm added in for good measure.

They'd both been practicing over the summer; they'd warded themselves against notice from the Ministry.

"It's holding," Draco whispered. Then he yelled to the others, "Come on out! Can you carry Butler?"

"Yes!" Root yelled back. "We're coming!"

"Quickly, I hope." Artemis's wand hand was shaking. That was a lot of rock to hold up.

Root came, warily pushing through the pillow-rocks, with Butler attached behind him on an anti-gravity belt. Holly followed, one arm clutching the other close to her chest.

Above them, the three remaining goblins were moving in closer and preparing to fire.

Draco turned and pointed his wand at them. "Let's see if you're immune to magic," he sneered. "Engorgio Manus! Inverto Visum! Cruditas!"

Each curse hit a goblin. The hands of the smallest one began to enlarge to three times their normal size. Unable to hold his gun, he dropped it. It fell into a random snowbank, too far away for them to reach or even identify to find later.

The middle goblin now saw everything upside down. He drifted around in the air, disoriented. But the third one shot at Draco. It hit a drift about six inches in front of him, spraying snow into his eyes.

The fairies plus Butler were hurrying towards them now, looking for any other possible cover. Artemis let the rock and ice he'd been holding up drop and spun around to fire off a few hexes of his own. "Diffindo! Confundrum! Petrificus Totalus!"

Draco wiped the snow out of his face. Why hadn't his diarrhea spell worked? Possibly a goblin's internal plumbing was different than theirs.

Meanwhile, the first goblin had managed to stop staring at his oversized hands long enough to barely dodge Artemis's curse. The second was even more confused. The third was hit by a body bind and froze.

Artemis cast Stupefy on the first goblin. The second tried shooting at him, but thanks to Malfoy's spell, he ended up shooting the sky. Draco Stupefied him as well.

"Accio softnose," Artemis said. There was a small explosion of a snowbank off in the distance ahead of them, then the dropped goblin gun floated towards them and into his hand.

Artemis held the gun out to the commander. Draco looked at it thoughtfully, then addressed Root. "I noticed their mechanical wings are still working even though they're unconscious. Can you shoot one down? Then we could question it."

"I could do that," Root replied, taking the laser and smirking. "I doubt he'll be able to tell us much, but it wouldn't hurt to ask."

Artemis moved to stand over his bodyguard in concern. "What's wrong with Butler?"

"Rock hit him. But he'll be OK in a moment," Root assured him, aiming at a goblin's wings.

-------------------------------They regrouped back to the Shuttleport. Butler had woken up okay, to the boys' relief, and Holly had healed her arm. Unfortunately as Root had suspected, the goblins had been unable to provide them with any information. They were too far down in the ranks to have ever seen the person controlling the B'wa Kell, and too stupid to know much more about it. Someone had wanted Root out of the way so they could stage a coup. Well, they'd figured that much out themselves. They had disposed of the goblins and returned to the shelter to plan.

"You've got a leak," Artemis told them. "Not even your Council knew about this mission. It was top secret. The only one who knew who isn't here is the centaur."

Holly shook her head. "Not Foaly."

"What's our situation? What have we got?" Root interjected. "The shuttle, providing it's not wired. Food provision. One softnose laser, stolen from goblins."

"Butler's brute strength, Fowl's brains. Two wands," Draco added. He nudged his way in front of Fowl to get closer to their little heat cube.

Not to be outdone, Fowl promptly pushed him to the side and got in front of him.

Draco shoved him over and sat beside him, legs and shoulders touching just to annoy him, and held his arms and legs straight out. He was about three inches taller than Fowl, and therefore three inches closer to the fire. "I'm closest, I'm closest," he sing-songed, grinning.

Fowl raised an eyebrow, more amused than he was letting on.

Root cleared his throat. "What do we know for sure?"

Artemis tried to ignore Malfoy's antics. "The goblins have a source in the LEP. They tried for the head. In all probability, they're going after the body at the same time. Meaning, there's a revolution going on underground."

"The LEP can beat the B'wa Kell," Holly scoffed.

"Without weapons?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Worst case scenario," Artemis said. "Haven has been taken by the B'wa Kell and the Council is dead or imprisoned. Things look grim."

"So what do we do now?" Draco asked.

"I'm sorry, Fowl," Root sighed, "but I'll have to go back underground. If a revolution is going on, I'm needed down there. I have duties."

"Without weapons, we can't deal with the Mafiya anyway," Holly added.

"We don't need them, Fowl." Draco looked at the other boy. "We still have our wands. We're here in Russia where we need to be. We can go on."

"Dueling against stupid goblins was one thing," Root said, eyes less harsh than his words. "You did well against them, but against the Mafiya? It will be a different situation. Come back with us, we'll put down the goblins, and then we'll all come back here."

Artemis's expression was bleak as he tried to decide.

Then his cell phone rang.

Draco jumped. "What's that noise?"

"Relax, pureblood," Artemis smirked at him. "It's just my phone." He pulled it out from his pocket. "Which is interesting, because only Butler has this number."

"You appear to be wrong about that."

Artemis looked at his phone. "Text message. It must be Foaly. He's been monitoring me. He may even be using my laptop, seeing as I left it there."

"Well, what's it say?"

He showed them. _"Cmndr Root. Trble below. Havn overrn by goblns. Plice Plaza srrounded. Cudgon Opal Koboi bhnd plot. No wpons or cmmunications. DNA cnons cntrlled by Koboi. I m trpped in Op Bth. Cncl thnks Im 2 blm. If alive plse hlp. If not, wrng nmbr."_

"Not good."

"Cudgeon! Cudgeon!" Root exclaimed, pacing furiously. "Why didn't I see it? Can we get a message to Foaly?"

"No. There's no network here. I'm surprised we could even receive."

"Couldn't you rig it somehow?"

"Of course. Give me six months, some specialized equipment, and three miles of steel girder."

Holly snorted. "Some criminal mastermind you turned out to be."

Butler placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Shh. Artemis is thinking."

Draco smirked.

After a moment, Artemis spoke. "We have two options." They listened expectantly. "One, get human aid."

"No good. What if the mind-wipe afterward didn't take? No. What's option two?"

"We break into Koboi Laboratories and return weapons control to the LEP."

"Break into Koboi?" Root started laughing. "Impossible. It's impregnable. Built on bedrock, no windows, blast-resistant walls, DNA cannons. We couldn't get within 100 yards."

Another moment of silence.

"I never learned spells against cannons," Draco said, frowning.

Holly looked at them almost hesitantly. "I had a thought. Remember the dwarf who broke into Fowl Manor when you held me hostage? He could get in. He worked for the builders of Koboi Labs--it was a way to get plans for buildings. He left himself a backdoor."

"But he's dead," Root protested.

"Actually. . . he's in L. A."

-------------------------------------------

They were experiencing difficulties. First, since their shuttle was traveling through a retired underground system, they came to a blocked tunnel. "No problem," Root had said. "We'll blast the wall."

He had climbed out on to the wing, despite heavy thermal turbulence, clutching two concussor eggs to blast the rock. He swung across from the wing to the rock wall on a piton cord and planted the charges. The problem came on the way back, when he lost the cord and was stranded against the rock face. They only had about 30 seconds until the concussors blew.

"If you're not overly fond of your ribs, I can use the ship's gripper clamps to pull you in. But it would rocket into you like a linebacker made of steel."

"I could float him across with magic," Draco offered.

Holly looked at him. "The commander's life is at stake. These chutes go down as far as forever. What if you dropped him?"

"Drop him! My dear lady, I've been using a wand since I was seven, and levitation and fetching spells are some of the first charms a kid learns. They come in very handy. Look, we got you out of that ice, didn't we?"

Holly groaned.

"Do it," Root ordered, trying not to panic.

Draco took up his wand and went to the door. Butler shoved a helmet over the blonde boy's head and opened the door for him. Draco looked out at the commander and summoned all his Malfoy confidence. "Wingardium Leviosa. Mobilus Corpus." The magic latched onto the fairy and he began to move across the empty space. As the thermal winds continued to buffet at him, Draco struggled to keep him going straight instead of letting the wind drag him away. He moved the fairy as quickly as possible.

Draco stepped aside as Root glided in through the shuttle door, then cancelled the spell. Root looked at him. "Well, well, I guess you're useful after all."

Draco beamed. He recognized this as high praise. He was discovering that he liked being heroically useful. He shuddered a bit with this revelation. The next thing you knew, he'd be wearing red and gold and empathizing with Potter.

The concussors blew, sending four tons of rubble dropping into the void.

Holly turned the shuttle and headed into the supply tunnel.

---------------------------------------

Mulch Diggums entered his apartment carrying an Oscar he'd stolen from a famous actress moments earlier. He placed it in a hidden cabinet and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "I'd like to thank the Academy." He giggled.

"Very touching," said a voice from behind him.

Mulch spun around, mouth falling open. There were two boys in his apartment. Human boys. One looked at him, eyebrow raised, as cool and suave as could be. The other, although just as sophisticated looking, was grinning in amusement.

"That's a dwarf?" the pale blonde one said to the other.

"Yes." The other boy glanced over to the first one. Their eyes met in a conspiratorial way. The blonde's grin turned into a smirk.

"No wonder humans have taken over the surface."

Mulch scowled. These boys were trouble.

"This one isn't a typical specimen. He's a thief."

"I beg your pardon," Mulch spoke up defensively, bluffing for all he was worth. "You're the ones in someone else's home."

"Indeed, your alarm was amusing. It took me several seconds to bypass it."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "We could have used a simple Alohamora, but no, you wanted some fun. . ."

Mulch gulped. Wizards. "Who are you?"

"I believe the question is, who are you? Millionaire Lance Digger? Thief extraordinare going by the alias the Grouch? Or, as Foaly suspects, the escaped convict Mulch Diggums?"

Mulch ran for it. "You'll never take me alive, humans. Tell Foaly not to send Mud Men to do a fairy's job."

"Hollywood has a lot to answer for," Artemis said to Malfoy, shaking his head.

Mulch dove into the chimney and chewed his way down.

Draco laughed. "That was fun. Gross, though. He really did eat dirt. Ugh. And he has no shame. He just dropped his pants right in front of us. I was so tempted to hex him."

"Malfoy, we discussed that. If we didn't let Holly make the final arrest, she'd have sulked the rest of the trip."

---------------------------------------------

Holly, Butler, and Root apprehended Diggums at the exit tunnel he'd made into the parking garage. Mulch was not a happy dwarf as the boys joined them and they returned to the shuttle. He had recognized Butler from their first meeting. That made one of those Mud Boys Artemis Fowl. But he had no idea who the other was.

Root screamed at him for awhile once they were all underground again. Mulch didn't take much notice of this. Eventually he asked, "What do you want from me? And what's with the Mud Men? Especially that one." He nodded at Butler.

Butler grinned. "Remember me, little man? Seems to me I owe you something. . ."

"Hey, you've never told me this story," Draco interrupted.

"I never will."

Draco looked at Mulch expectantly. The dwarf looked at Butler nervously and kept his mouth shut.

Root smiled. "Something important is going on."

"I thought so. You need me to do the dirty work, as usual. You know, assaulting me isn't going to help much."

"Next time, don't run," Draco smirked at him. "'You'll never take me alive?' Really. Couldn't you have at least come up with a better parting line?"

Mulch sighed. "Just tell me what you want."

"You're going to get us into Koboi labs."

"No way! They have DNA-coded cannons!"

"You have no choice, convict," Root growled.

"What about my civil rights? I'll just serve my jail time."

"I could turn him into a flobberworm," Draco offered.

"Who **is** he?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" Draco's smirk hadn't faded. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

Which would make the other one Artemis Fowl. Mulch glanced over at the other boy. He was smirking, too.

"In case you don't know, the Malfoy's are an old, powerful pureblood line of Dark wizards," Artemis supplied.

That did not make the dwarf happier.

"Here's the deal, Mulch," Root cut in, afraid things might get out of hand. "I can add a century to your sentence and throw you into maximum security in Howler's Peak. . ."

"That's a goblin prison!"

". . . or I can give you a two day head start when this is all over."

"And time is of the essence," Artemis put in.

Mulch groaned and accepted. He didn't see any choice.

"By the way," Draco said, "what's DNA?"

Root and Holly had to make an excuse to return to the cockpit so they wouldn't burst out laughing in front of Malfoy. Really, listening to Fowl trying to explain genetics to a pureblood wizard was more than they could take.

-----------------------------

A/N: Sorry for the time it's taken me to update. Things were disrupted by Hurricanes Charley and Frances, but I should be back on target now. Thanks for the reviews!


	5. 5: We're Going In

The Family Name: The Artic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 5: We're Going In

The shuttle sped down a vast chute, hugging the walls as they searched for a fissure Mulch had assured them would be beneath Koboi Laboratories. It was only 5 yards wide and only appeared when the rock wall cooled down. It was only open for about 3 minutes, when the rock was at its coolest, moments before the next magma flare.

As Mulch had said, "Last time I nearly got crushed and fried. If the rocks don't get you, the magma will."

Nevertheless, they were going to fly through it.

"In this ship?" Holly protested. "It handles like a three-legged rhinoceros!"

"How was I supposed to know?" Root grumbled. "This was supposed to be a routine run. This shuttle has an excellent stereo."

"My father would say, 'Even luxury should be deadly.'" Draco shrugged. "You never know when to believe what he says, though."

Artemis smiled down at his shoes. Malfoy actually was learning to think for himself.

"I like that one," Butler murmured.

They heard the sound of the approaching flare. The fissure began to open up.

"Let's go," Mulch prodded, looking anxious.

"Not enough room yet."

"It'll widen as we go."

Holly gripped the controls tighter. The chasm cracked another few feet. "Hold on." She shoved the thrusters as high as they would go and maneuvered the shuttle into the tunnel.

Draco gave a crooked grin. "This would be perfect for Quidditch training."

"You're crazy, Malfoy."

Holly ignored them and watched her instruments. Despite their headlights, it was nearly impossible to see out the windshield. She watched their laser radar and listened to the sonar, but it was beeping so fast it was almost a continuous whine. Magma was rising behind them. The temperature was increasing. The fissure closed behind them and opened up before them with a noise like thunder in a small tin barrel. It was a desperate race.

Their craft skimmed against the side with a shower of sparks. Holly flipped the shuttle sideways between two shifting plates. An edge clipped the ship's rear.

Draco was laughing. Butler was holding his gun. Mulch had his ears covered. Root had an unlit cigar clamped between his teeth. Draco nudged Fowl with his shoulder. Abruptly, Artemis relaxed and met Malfoy's eyes, amused. His mouth quirked, as he tried not to smile. "You really are crazy, Malfoy."

"When we get back to your manor, I'm taking you joy riding on my broom. You're way too uptight."

Then they were through the plates, spiraling into a cavern toward three enormous titanium rods. "There, the foundation rods," Mulch said.

Holly docked, then looked at Malfoy and smirked. "You're such a flyboy."

--------------------------------

Mulch showed them a diagram he'd made. Apparently dwarves weren't very good artists. Malfoy snickered. "What's that supposed to be?"

"It's one of the foundation rods. The only way now is up."

"Those are solid titanium, sunk in impregnable bedrock," Root growled.

"Only one isn't solid."

Artemis nodded. "You cut corners on this, didn't you, Mulch?"

"My forefathers disemboweled the man who tried to use faulty stone when building our manor," Draco remarked.

"Your forefathers would." Holly rolled her eyes.

"You had to fill that column up with something," Root protested.

"We hooked up the sewage pipes to it for a couple of days so Koboi's scans would come out clean."

"Sewage. . ." They all looked a bit sick.

"It's not anymore. That was 100 years ago, it's just clay now."

Root leaned forward. Mulch stepped back. "You expect us to climb through 20 yards of manure."

"No way," Draco said immediately. "Nothing doing."

The dwarf shrugged. "Stay here forever if you like."

Draco looked at Fowl, who obviously was disgusted and just wishing he were somewhere else. "You couldn't have mentioned this sooner?"

"Let's do it," Holly cut in. "Once the Lower Elements are saved, we can get back to rescuing your father."

Fowl made no reply, so Draco answered. "Ladies and Gryffindor-wannabe's first."

------------------------------

Mulch began to eat his way up through the tunnel. The others stood well back. Artemis sighed. "He's amazing. What I could do with ten like him. Ft. Knox would be a pushover."

"Do you think he could take Gringott's?"

"Don't even think about it," Root warned them. "Either one of you."

"We'll have to put in some sort of precautions at the manor. . ."

"Good luck. He already broke into mine."

"Yes, well, you keep forgetting my father is a Dark wizard."

Artemis decided he'd really better read up on Dark Arts spells.

Root turned to Butler. "What have you got?"

He drew his Sig Sauer. "This is it. I'll take it since I'm the only one who could lift it. You have the softnose laser."

"You hold on to that, Capt. Short. I'll pick up something on the way."

"But, sir. . ."

"I won't have an officer of mine going unarmed. That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

"So we're going now?"

Butler shook his head, bracing himself for an argument. "No--you two are staying here."

"What?" Draco's eyes crackled with annoyance.

"This is a military operation. . ."

"We beat Riddle--twice!"

"Save your lives for rescuing Mr. Fowl."

Draco opened his mouth, then shut it again and looked at his schoolmate.

"Very well," Artemis conceded. "We'll stay here, unless. . ."

Butler frowned. "Unless what?"

Artemis's smile would have made Mulch choose Howler's Peak over being with the dangerous Mud Boy a moment longer, if it hadn't already been too late. "Unless I have an idea."

The two boys sat on a rock. "They're treating us like children," Draco complained, looking a bit pouty. "We're wizards. They don't seem to understand that."

Artemis nodded, his eyes taking on a far away, planning quality. "Kept us out of the sewage," he responded absently.

Draco watched him. "Still making rescue plans?"

"The situation has changed due to the passage of so much time. They'll be taking him to the drop point. Once they beat us there, our options are limited."

"We should get our own invisibility cloak."

"Aren't they extremely rare?"

"Yes, and extremely expensive. But we do have money." He paused, then asked very hesitantly, "Are you OK?"

Startled, Artemis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I just--I know how worried you must be." Draco looked away, at the tunnel.

Artemis blinked. Malfoy couldn't actually be concerned, could he? Certainly not. That would mean that he cared, and Malfoy obviously wouldn't care. It wasn't like they were **friends** or anything. They were enemies--or at least rivals--they just happened to be under truce and allied at the moment. That's all.

Besides, Artemis didn't want to admit to any weaknesses. So he said, "I'm fine," but he knew at once that Malfoy had correctly interpreted this as: If I knew how to experience emotion, I'd be going out of my mind.

D'Arvit. When had Malfoy gotten to be so perceptive?

"We'll do it, you know, Fowl. We'll get him out." Draco hesitantly raised a hand and gave Fowl's upper arm a squeeze, then dropped his hand hastily.

Artemis blinked, then gave him a small, tentative smile. He shouldn't feel better because Malfoy was trying to encourage him. But he did. He wondered why.

Then they heard a voice yelling for help.

"The dwarf."

"What do you think?"

"Maybe we could Accio him."

"What if he's stuck?"

"You're saying we have to go up the tunnel, aren't you?"

Artemis would have been amused if he wasn't dreading the thought himself. "I'm afraid so."

"No alternative?"

"Afraid not."

"Why don't you go and I'll stay here?"

Artemis's voice hardened. "Come on, Malfoy."

They put on helmets to block out the smell. Artemis ignored Malfoy's continued exclamations of "Oh, gross!" and "Oh, this is nasty!"

"All I can say is, Mulch had better be in a lot of pain," Artemis muttered.

When they reached the lab entrance, they found Mulch twitching in pain on the floor. The boys crouched down beside the dwarf. "What's wrong?"

"Blockage in my gut." Mulch's voice shook. "Something too hard to break down."

"So what do we do?" Draco asked.

"Take off my left boot."

The boys looked at each other. Malfoy grinned. "You know him best."

Artemis sighed, but was secretly relieved. He'd been afraid he'd have to do something a lot worse. He peeled the boot off.

"Little toe."

"What about it?"

"Squeeze the joint. Hard."

Draco grabbed Fowl's arm. "Somebody's coming."

A goblin turned the corner and reached for his gun. Draco pulled out his wand. Artemis lifted Mulch's leg higher and squeezed the toe. The resulting explosion knocked the goblin all the way down the corridor.

Mulch got to his feet. "Thanks, kid. I thought I was a goner. Must have been granite, or diamond maybe."

Artemis nodded, unable to reply with words.

Draco blinked, then looked at the dwarf. "That was--" but then he, too, stopped.

"Goblins are dumb," Mulch crowed. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"My father would have you murdered just on general principle."

Artemis shook his head as the dwarf stared at Malfoy. "That goblin. I doubt he was on his own."

"How could you eat a **diamond**? Don't you know what they're worth?"

Mulch ignored Draco's comments. "No, a whole squadron of goblins just went past. This guy must have been trying to avoid the action. Typical."

Draco managed to drag his thoughts away from diamonds and frowned anxiously. "They're going to need our help," Draco said, frowning anxiously.

Artemis rubbed his temples. "Mulch. You couldn't leave the labs the same way you came in. The flare would have gotten you. So how did you get out?"

Mulch grinned. "Simple, I activated the alarm, then left in the LEP uniform I came in."

Artemis scowled. "There must be another way." He began looking around the passageway. Draco frowned and did the same, but he only saw corridor; what did all this stuff do? What were they looking for? Eventually Artemis climbed up on the hover trolley, tapping one of the overhead conduits that ran the length of the corridor. "This pipe runs along the entire ceiling. What is it?"

"The plasma supply for the DNA cannons."

"Why didn't you come in this way?"

Mulch snorted. "There's enough charge in every drop of plasma to fry a troll."

"What if the cannons weren't operational?"

"Once the cannons are deactivated, the plasma is just so much radioactive slop."

"Radioactive?"

"I know what a radio is," Draco announced, feeling that he wasn't contributing much to this discussion, and happy to finally know something. "I saw one at Fowl Manor."

"Yes, well. . ."

"Actually, Root reckons the cannons **have** been turned off."

"Is there a way to tell for certain?"

"We could open the unopenable panel. See this micro keyhole? It takes true talent to pick a lock like this. Fortunately, you have a master with you. . ."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Alohamora." The panel opened. "You people always want to complicate things."

Mulch looked at him, disgruntled.

Inside the pipe, an orange jelly pulsed gently. Occasional sparks roiled in its depths.

"Yep, deactivated."

"What about those sparks?"

"Residual charge. They'd give you a tingle, but nothing serious."

"Right." Artemis strapped his helmet back on.

Mulch blanched. "You're not serious, Mud Whelp? Do you have any idea what will happen if those canons are activated?"

Artemis drew breath to speak, but Draco was faster. "First of all, don't call us Mud Whelps if we're going off to face certain death. Second of all, no, what will happen if the cannons are activated?"

"I should have realized you wouldn't know. . ." Artemis said seriously. "Radioactive means. . . no, never mind. Basically, we'd fry."

"I see. Fowl, are you crazy?"

"You're the one who said we need to help."

"Yes, but. . . this is a very Gryffindoric plan!"

"Malfoy, how do you suggest we get past the small goblin army to our target?"

Draco threw his hands up helplessly. "Some way that won't fry us!"

"The odds are we'll make it through before the cannons are called into use. And this is a very Slytherin plan--it employs stealth, cunning, and determination."

Draco made a frustrated sound and shoved his helmet on.

"Okay," Mulch said. "You've got 30 yards to go and no more than 10 minutes of air in that helmet. Keep the filters closed. The air may get a bit stale after awhile, but it's better than sucking plasma. You can spell yourself out at the other end. Don't use your helmet lights. Halogen could reactivate the plasma."

"Lumos." Draco's wand lit at the tip. Artemis followed suit.

"That'll work." Mulch nodded. "Make sure you get foamed as soon as you can. The antirad canisters are blue. They're everywhere in this facility."

Draco was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

"Anything else?"

"Well, there are the plasma snakes. . ."

The two boys moved slightly closer together. "You're not serious?"

Mulch grinned. "No, I'm not."

Malfoy let out an angry breath and raised his wand. "Serpen. . ."

Artemis grabbed his arm. "You are not summoning a snake to bite Mulch. Get your temper under control and focus."

"He's the one who brought up snakes," Malfoy grumbled.

The dwarf swallowed and took a step back. He smiled weakly and cleared his throat. "Now then, your reach is about one and one-half feet. So calculate for 60 pulls and then get out."

Artemis calculated. "More like 63, I'd say."

"Whatever. In you go." Mulch interlaced his fingers so they could climb up. Artemis went first, stepping onto the dwarf's cupped hands and into the panel. Draco followed. The orange gel coalesced around them, covering them completely.

"This is worse than the mud, Fowl!" Draco snapped via the helmet comlink. "I hate you!"

Artemis felt a strange pang in his chest. "You don't, really," he said in his most neutral tone.

"No, not really. Unless you kick me in the face. Be careful!"

Artemis ignored his feeling of relief and started crawling. "Fine. Now hush, I'm counting."

The plasma sucked at them. A residual spark brushed Artemis's leg, sending sharp pain through his body. He hissed. "A bit of a tingle?!"

"It doesn't hurt as bad as the Cruciatus, Fowl," Malfoy replied dryly.

Artemis wished he could see the other boy's face. The panel was too narrow for him to turn around. "How bad is the Cruciatus?"

"Imagine all your veins on fire and your muscles failing you until you feel like you no longer have conscious control over your body and you can't think except to know that you're not supposed to scream but you have no will left, anyway. Then your body starts twitching and you're writhing on the floor and it's humiliating but you have no will, anyway, and your veins explode and the fire burns your blood and the blood runs all over your body and you can't think but to realize you're screaming after all, and you have no will left, anyway." Draco swallowed and stopped. He hadn't meant to say so much.

Artemis almost lost count. "Did you learn this from your father?" he asked carefully.

There was a pause. "Yes," Malfoy answered finally, in just as neutral a voice. "I did."

To Artemis's surprise, he suddenly had the strong desire to kill Lucius Malfoy. He shoved it down. "We better quit talking. We need to save our air."


	6. 6: Cudgeon's Last Stand

The Family Name: The Arctic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 6: Cudgeon's Last Stand

Everything was orange. You couldn't tell where you were. The tunnel looked all the same. The sparks were getting worse. Each shock disrupted Artemis's focus. He didn't know if he was on 54 now or 56. The difference was life or death.

Finally Artemis stopped. The air purifiers in their helmets were nearly spent by now. His concentration was failing, his brain spiraling off into a black tunnel. "Malfoy. . . have you counted 61 or 63?"

"63. This is it." Draco crawled closer and held out his lit wand. "Search for a keyhole."

Artemis felt around with his fingers and squinted. "Here. Alohamora."

The panel flap dropped open. Artemis stuck his head up and undid the helmet visor. He drew in deep, grateful breaths. He pulled Malfoy closer until he could put his head out and breathe, too.

Then they turned their attention to the room they were in. Those must be the three goblin generals, Artemis deduced. Which would make that one Cudgeon, and the one in the hoverchair must be Opal Koboi. The adults were all watching via the control room's screen as Butler knocked out goblin after goblin. There were enough other goblins in the building that the generals just found it amusing.

Draco looked at Fowl to see what the next step would be. "Plan?" he mouthed.

"Take out Cudgeon first, then the goblins, then Opal. Nothing fancy, just Stupefy," Artemis whispered, more breath than voice, so no one would hear. "Ready?"

At Draco's nod, Artemis slithered out of the tube and plopped onto the floor, dripping goo. Draco slid out and landed next to him, flicking globs of gel off his wand. One goblin turned his head and saw them. He opened his mouth.

"Stupefy," Artemis cried, aiming at Cudgeon.

"Stupefy," Malfoy said at the same time, hitting the goblin about to speak.

The goblin fell, but Opal Koboi happened to move forward two inches closer to the screen and Artemis's shot hit her chair instead of Cudgeon. It bounced away and fizzled out.

The rest of the group turned to face the boys. "Kill them, quickly," Cudgeon ordered the other two generals, and threw himself behind a computer monitor. Opal squeaked.

"Stupefy," Artemis cast quickly and another of the goblins fell. The remaining one conjured a fireball in his fist and approached the boys menacingly.

Draco jumped. His fingers grabbed onto the arm of Opal's hoverchair. He pulled himself up, put a knee on the armrest, and clung to the back of the chair. This meant two things: 1) the goblin couldn't fire at him, and 2) he could now see and aim for Cudgeon. The problem with this plan was that Opan wrenched around in her seat and started pounding on his fingers, distracting him from getting a spell off. He pulled himself up, making the chair wobble dangerously, got a knee on both armrests, and leaned over the chair-back, prepared to hex the pixie. She stopped hitting him and spun the chair in a tight circle. Draco had to hold on tightly. Then she rocketed them to the other side of the room, backwards. She was going to smash him in between the chair and the wall. Before they hit the wall, Draco let go and tumbled to the floor. Opal shot upwards, out of his reach. Draco looked about him. He had a clear shot at Cudgeon now. Unfortunately, Cudgeon also had a clean shot at him and was bringing his gun around.

Draco raised his wand, knowing it was going to be close, when he noticed something. At an angle just past Cudgeon, the goblin was bearing down on Fowl. Fowl had just shouted Stupefy and the goblin was crumpling to the floor. However, the general had already released his fireball, and it was too big and too near for Fowl to dodge. His fellow Slytherin was just staring at it, eyes wide, waiting for it to hit him.

Draco changed where he was pointing his wand. "Aqua Valde!"

Cudgeon fired his laser.

Draco tried to dodge.

The water spell engulfed the fireball and extinguished it with a hiss and a great cloud of steam. Artemis couldn't see past it, so he walked through the curtain of mist. Water droplets clung to his body and shimmered like stars in the sky. His heart was beating like a heavy metal drummer, loud and fast. He saw Malfoy's knees hit the ground and his wand fall out of his hand. Shock delayed any reaction as Cudgeon walked over and picked up Malfoy's wand. Then he pointed the laser at Artemis.

Cudgeon was smiling. "You see, Artemis Fowl, you haven't accomplished anything. Your friends are out there, or. . ." he glanced at Malfoy, "disarmed and bleeding to death." Malfoy had his hand pressed to his side; blood streamed down between his fingers. "You're here, alone, and helpless. My goblin squad in this facility will kill your friends, then I'll kill the goblins. Then I'll take over the world." The fairy laughed. Malfoy was a sickly white, like chocolate that was too old, and he was breathing in shaky gulps. "Nobody can stop me."

"He can," Malfoy said, voice thin but confident. "He's Artemis Fowl."

Cudgeon spared them both a condescending glance. "I'm the one with the gun. I can pull the trigger before you can cast a spell. And Blondie here, in his weakened condition, can't jump me before I shoot him."

"**You'll** rule the world," Artemis said slowly. "**You.** What about Opal?"

Cudgeon smiled a politician's smile. "She'll be by my side, of course."

"That wasn't what it sounded like to me. It sounded like you were planning on ruling without her. What do you think, Malfoy?"

"He doesn't strike me as the kind to share power. In fact, I'd say he's the kind to quietly eliminate her. Poison her in her sleep, most likely. I've heard she's feisty, and very smart, so he'd probably prefer to avoid direct confrontation. Maybe he'll hire someone to kill her for him."

"Ah. Here's a thought then. If I can't hex you, Cudgeon, what'll you grant me if I hex Opal instead?"

Cudgeon's smile had slipped just a bit too much, or he'd hesitated just a fraction of a second too long before answering. Opal swooped down in her chair to be eye level with him. She glared. "Are you thinking about double-crossing me?"

'_D'Arvit,' _Artemis thought. Her hoverchair now blocked both Cudgeon and herself from his aim. He raced forward to try and get around her.

Cudgeon's attention swiveled back from Opal to Fowl.

Draco sat back and kicked out with his legs, sweeping Cudgeon to the floor. The fairy retained his gun but lost his grip on Draco's wand. It clattered to the ground a few feet away. Draco made a desperate grab for it as Cudgeon raised his laser to point it at the boy's temple.

Opal maneuvered backwards, away from the gun, once again blocking Artemis's path. He couldn't get around, but there was a bit of space. . . he threw himself underneath the floating chair, head first, and slid forward on his belly from the momentum. His wand was raised. "Stupefy!" he cried, as Cudgeon's finger pulled the trigger.

Cudgeon crumpled. His shot went wild and hit a computer screen.

Draco's hand curled over his wand. "Stupefy!"

Opal's eyes closed and her head lolled to the side.

The two Slytherins looked at each other, panting.

"Malfoy. . ."

"They're still fighting the goblins in the hall," Draco interrupted, reminding him. "What do we do?"

"There must be a way to switch the DNA cannons so they'll stun the goblins." Artemis pulled himself up and examined the computer banks.

"We could wake up Opal and make her tell us." Draco's voice was getting weaker.

"No, look. . . it's Foaly." Artemis pointed to a monitor that showed the centaur trapped in his communications booth. A microphone was hooked up in front of the screen. Artemis spoke into it. "Foaly! Do you know the code to change over the Koboi cannons?"

"Fowl!" Foaly acknowledged him with surprise. "What's going on?"

"Commander Root and Company is in trouble. I could figure this out given time, but I was hoping you'd know the code to switch the cannons to pick up goblin DNA."

"OK." Foaly nodded and began giving Fowl instructions on what buttons to push. Draco let Fowl work it out. He stayed sitting on the floor wondering why he hadn't bothered to learn any healing spells. Things were beginning to get a little fuzzy.

Artemis activated the cannons and all the goblins in the building fell, unconscious. "How do we return power to the LEP weaponry?"

"Cudgeon had a remote control. Turn it off."

Artemis found it and did so. Foaly let out a whoop of triumph as power came rushing back to his Operations Booth. He reprogrammed Police Plaza's own DNA cannons and put the rest of the goblins out of action.

Now that the rest of the group was out of danger of dying by goblin, Artemis quickly knelt down by Draco. "Hey, Malfoy. . . good work."

The blonde's eyes were glazed with pain, but he smiled a little. "Thanks, you too."

Artemis ripped a long strip off Cudgeon's shirt and pressed it against Malfoy's wound. He hissed a little.

"Sorry," Artemis apologized, feeling wretched. He didn't want Malfoy to hurt like this. Malfoy's eyes fluttered closed. His face was covered with sweat. He wouldn't. . . surely he wouldn't die, would he? Artemis abruptly felt rather dizzy and his stomach churned sickeningly.

A loud pounding sounded on the door. Artemis looked up, startled. Through the glass window, he saw his bodyguard and the fairies standing on the other side of the door. He jumped up and ran to open it. Before they could even enter the room, he had taken Holly's arm. "Come quick, heal Malfoy."

Holly's eyes went wide in alarm and she hurried in. She rushed over to Draco and examined him. "He's been shot!"

"I know. I saw Cudgeon shoot him."

Holly put her hand over Draco's wound. His eyes didn't open. She gathered her magic and let it flow into the boy. Blue sparks danced from her hand to his side.

Butler took Artemis by the shoulders and looked him over. "You're not injured?"

"No. Just--" Artemis looked at Malfoy and bit his lip. Butler patted his arm.

Root was checking over the unconscious goblins and fairies. "What happened?"

"We climbed through the plasma supply pipe and hexed them." His eyes were still on the other boy. He wanted to tell Butler, "Malfoy saved my life. He knew Cudgeon was about to shoot him, but he saved me instead." Only no words would come out. Why had Malfoy done that? Artemis didn't know, but he wouldn't forget.

"If you did that, you'd better get sprayed down with the antirad foam," Root said. He got a canister from its place on the wall. "I'll do it."

Butler looked Artemis over again, then turned to look at Malfoy. He considered himself responsible for the welfare of both boys, as Malfoy was with them solely to help rescue Artemis Sr. However, Holly was removing her hand from him now, and the boy was opening his eyes.

"Hello, Draco." Holly leaned back on her haunches and grinned at him. "Feeling better?"

Draco looked down at his side, blinked, then looked back at her. "Yes. You healed me?" She nodded. "Um, great. Thanks." How did you thank someone properly for that?

"No problem." She saw the sincerity in his eyes. "Stand up, you need to get sprayed down now."

Bemusedly, Draco did so, and had nasty-smelling foam sprayed all over him. He wrinkled his nose and decided he was entitled to whine a bit. "Ugh, can't they do anything about the smell? And look at my clothes, just look. I'm covered in mud and blood and goo! These were hand-tailored by Grace Thenetello! Do you know my socks alone are worth 30 Galleons?"

Artemis smiled at him, unable to help it. "You should see the state your hair is in."

Draco's hand immediately went to his hair.

Artemis smiled wider and half-turned away, trying to hide it. He noticed movement by the door. Mulch was grinning and waving goodbye. Artemis nudged Draco and motioned with his chin. Draco looked over and winked. Mulch nodded and was gone--he only had a two day head start, after all.

A/N: Personally, I don't like this story very well, although I'm glad most of you do. But I just felt it had to be written, because it happened. Otherwise, when Hogwarts starts up again, you wouldn't understand what happened when they referred to the summer, and Artemis's father, or the progression of the boy's relationship. At any rate, I'm enjoying my start of writing Third Year better than I am this. I know the events didn't change that much from the book in this story, but Malfoy is feeling very out of his element, with computers and shuttlecraft and guns, and therefore not initiating much.


	7. 7: The Rescue

The Family Name—The Arctic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 7: The Rescue

They headed back to the Arctic Circle.

"Scourgify."

"Give it up, Malfoy."

"Scourgify."

"You've cast that charm three times already. Your robe is never going to come completely clean again."

"I want that mad ex-LEP Recon to pay my drycleaning bills." Draco crossed his arms and looked sulky.

"Maybe we can add that into his sentence," Holly smirked, amused. She was at the pilot's controls again, despite Draco's insistence that he was sure he could fly a shuttle if he could fly a broom.

Foaly had retrieved an email from Artemis's computer and found a message instructing them to go to the coast of Murmansk, where an old submarine was docked, at midnight on the 14th. The ransom was $5 million. The Council had approved giving Root and Holly wings for the mission, so once they were at the shuttleport, it wouldn't take too long to get to the drop point. Draco had un-shrunken his broom.

--------------------------------------------------------

The odds, however, were against them. They couldn't shield due to radiation, they couldn't get close enough to mesmerize, it took too long to set up a time stop. The party carried plenty of fairy weaponry, but if they started shooting, the kidnappers would kill Mr. Fowl. If they paid the ransom, they would all be killed anyway. And as they stood overlooking the fjord and the sub, they could see over 80 men camped out around the area, all lying in wait with firearms.

"You walk in there, you'll be carried out," Holly said, frowning.

Butler indicated the conning tower. "I would guess the target is being held there. To get there, you've got to walk all the way along the sub. They've got a hundred men hiding around the perimeter. I'm sorry, Artemis, I just don't see it."

Artemis sighed. "I do have a plan, but I'm not sure how well you'll like it." He looked around at them, thinking, _'I'm not sure how well **I **like it.'_

-----------------------------------------------------------

Artemis waited ten minutes for everyone to get in position. He put on one of the LEP helmets so he could see into the tower and have Holly be able to hear him. Then he dialed the number to Mikhael Vassikin's cell phone.

Vassikin almost fell over when his phone rang. He grabbed it quickly. "Da? What is it? I'm busy."

"This is Fowl," Artemis said in flawless Russian. "It's midnight. I'm here."

"Here? Where? I don't see anything."

"Close enough."

"How did you get this number?"

Artemis laughed condescendingly. The helmet's hi-res night-sight filter was good enough for him to see Vassikin shudder. "I know someone. He has all the numbers."

"Do you have the money?"

"Of course." This was even true; Foaly had some printed up. Of course, it would disappear after awhile. "Do you have the package?"

"Right here."

Artemis laughed again, trying to sound as cold and intimidating as possible. He was very successful. "All I see is a fat imbecile, a little rat, and someone with a hood over his head. It could be anyone. I'm not paying $5 million for your cousin Yuri."

Vassikin ducked below the lip of the tower. "Fowl can see us!" he hissed to his cohort, Kamar. "Stay low."

Kamar made a radio call to his men. "Fowl's here. Search the area."

Vassikin spoke to Fowl again. "Come down here and check then. You'll see soon enough."

"I can see fine from right here. Just take the hood off."

"He wants me to take the hood off," Vassikin whispered to Kamar.

"Go ahead. They're both dead in a few minutes anyway."

Vassikin shrugged. "OK, Fowl, I'm taking off the hood. The next face you see will be your father's." He propped their prisoner high over the lip of the conning tower and pulled the sack off the man's head.

Artemis drew in a sharp breath. It was definitely his father. "Yes." Artemis's voice was deliberately devoid of emotion. "It's him."

Vassikin grinned at Kamar. "We're in the money," he whispered.

This happy thought vanished as Artemis continued speaking. "We have one problem here, gentlemen. You see, the last thing I need is for my father to return and destroy what I have built up over the past two years. It would be better for me if he were dead. But to be frank, I don't feel very kindly towards any of you, either, for trying to extort me. So if you were to die with him, well. . . I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. That being said, gentlemen, I recommend that you run. And you'd better run fast, boys."

Artemis hung up. He had given Holly and Root their signal. Not too close, but quite nearby, they were hovering by their mechanical wings, firing their lasers at the top of a snowy hill. With a large rumble, the ice, snow, and rock began to plummet down, speeding towards the Russian mobsters below.

Vassikin took one look and dropped the prisoner. By accident and overbalancing, he dropped him over the side of the tower, but even if this had registered, he wouldn't have cared. Fowl had made it very clear that his father was of no value to him, and by extension, he was of no value to them. What was important was the two tons of snow heading towards them.

"Run!" Kamar screamed into his radio, following his own advice. "It's every man for himself!"

Vassikin was hot on his heels as they ran down the tower steps. The men in the field were also fleeing for their lives.

Butler had been estimating distances. _'I think at least most of them will survive,' _he thought, but only in passing. His main concern was the falling body of Artemis Fowl, Sr.

--------------------------------------

Draco was sitting on his broom, waiting. The fairies had been given the more dangerous job of starting the avalanche. If they had misjudged anything, they could be swept away by snow, or end up killing all the Russians. They'd been walking a fine line, trying not to kill anyone.

Draco had flown above the clouds until he reached the far side of the tower, then he came down far enough to see. The plan was that after everyone started running away, he'd land on the tower, grab Mr. Fowl--he was wearing a Moonbelt to help with the weight--and fly him back to the others, before the snow knocked the wooden tower over, smashing it like toothpicks.

He waited until he heard the rumble, smirking as men on the ground started running. But then, to his horror, he saw the man who had been holding Mr. Fowl drop him, right over the side of the tower.

His instincts kicked in and he reacted instantly. He swooped down in a steep dive, racing after Artemis's father. His heart was pounding. _'Come on, come on, you caught the Snitch, didn't you? You can do this!'_

_'But this is infinitely more important than a Snitch,' _another voice in his head responded. _'What if you don't make it? How will you tell Fowl you let his father die?'_

This prompted a sudden burst of speed as he lay flat over his broom. 15 feet away--10 feet--8 feet--an arm's distance now--a hand's width--but the ground was closing in just as fast, and they were directly above the sub-zero Arctic water--which was 11 feet--8 feet--6 feet--his hand closed on the back of Mr. Fowl's shirt, as his other hand and his knees gripped desperately onto the broom. He still nearly fell off the side, pulled down by the heaviness of the other body. He would have to let go with one hand to attach the adult to the Moonbelt, and he didn't think he'd be able to do it. He was going to drop him--no, they were both going to be dragged down into the freezing water, because there was no way he was letting go.

They would both die then, because the broom wouldn't work under water, and Draco wasn't that good of a swimmer, even if he could still get his limbs to move in the coldness of the water. Once they went under it was all over. 4 feet--3 feet--

"Screw that!" he managed through gritted teeth. He felt magic suddenly coursing through his body. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

And the man he was clinging to began to rise. Draco drew in a shuddering breath and let go of Artemis's father. He pulled his broom sharply upwards, then leveled out. He hung on by knees alone as he unwound the cord from his belt and attached it to Mr. Fowl's waist. Then he cast Mobilus Corpus for better control and tugged the adult's body onto the broom. He ended the first spell with another shaky sigh, and let his hands give in to their trembling.

"Okay, sir," he said to the unconscious man. "I'll take you to your son now."

------------------------------------------

As soon as Draco landed with Mr. Fowl, Holly rushed over. She put her hands on the man's chest and started healing him from his various injuries.

Draco went and stood next to his fellow Slytherin. He noticed the dried tear tracks on Fowl's face, but pretended not to.

Everyone was silent, waiting on Holly's pronouncement of Artemis Sr.'s health. "All right," she said finally, "I've done all I can. I've even restored sight to one eye. There's nothing I can do about the missing leg. But he should be just fine. He'll need long-term recovery time, though, and prolonged medical attention."

Artemis nodded. "Thank you. All of you. Very well done."

"We can even do a slight mind-wipe so these last two years of his imprisonment are sort of--blurred," she offered. "We can make his last memory a happy one."

"Good." Artemis swallowed. "Please do."

"Are you taking him back to Ireland?" Draco asked, forehead scrunched up. "Or does he need healed up more first?"

"Well. . ."

"Cause from Murmansk, we can fly him to a wizarding village and floo to Durmstrang. I'm not sure of the school's exact location--somewhere in Estonia, but it's unplottable, like Hogwarts. We can floo there, though, no problem. From there we could floo internationally to Hogwarts or to St. Mungo's, and from there back to Ireland."

"I don't want to take him to Hogwarts or St. Mungo's. Too many people would become involved in my business. This doesn't need to be bruited around."

"Then you could have Durmstrang's mediwizard heal him. Snape talks to him sometimes about potions and says he's quite good."

"That's not a bad idea," said Root. "I could put Butler on the anti-grav belt and Holly could carry Fowl's father. Fowl can ride with Malfoy on his broom." He looked at Butler. "What do you think?"

Butler looked wary, but agreed. "Unless you have a better plan, Artemis?"

"No. . . I'd rather have a mediwizard look at him than a Muggle doctor. They can do a lot more."

"Well then," Root smiled, "Butler, this is your chance to fly."

-----------------------------------------

The flight was relatively uneventful. Butler was pale and quiet, but not in any danger of falling with the Moonbelt.

"That was a good catch, Malfoy. He might not have survived the water."

"Yeah--I'm glad my father insisted I be a Seeker instead of a Keeper, now."

"It was rather impressive," Holly called over to them with a smile.

Draco blushed. "Thanks."

"Don't give him a swelled head," Root grunted. "He's arrogant enough as he is."

Draco just smirked. "What can I say? I **am** a Malfoy."

"When we get back to the manor, I'm digging out my plaque," Artemis threatened, actually smiling rather widely for him.

"Don't you dare, Fowl!"

"What plaque?" Holly asked.

"It was a Christmas present. It. . ."

"Fowl. . ."

". . . says Fowl's are better than Malfoy's." Artemis let the wind blow his hair back, feeling better than he'd felt in a long time.

"Such an obvious and pathetic boldfaced lie."

"We could take a vote," Holly suggested, eyes twinkling impishly.

"As your employee, Butler would not be allowed to participate."

"Just give it up, Malfoy."

---------------------------------------------

They found a wizarding village by performing a Point Me charm. Holly turned the task of carrying Artemis Sr. over to Butler.

"We'll be going back now," Root said. He and Holly shook hands with Butler.

"Thank you," Artemis told them again.

"One last thing, Fowl. Foaly said that in light of the help you've given us, he's pulling the surveillance on your manor."

"That's good to know. I'm not going to do anything, by the way, so don't worry."

"That's good to know. Because a large section of the Council wanted you both mind-wiped. And with a chunk of memory that big, your IQ could take a bit of a dip."

Draco put his hand to his heart in mock horror. "Without Fowl's genius, where would he be? It's not like he has my dashing good looks or irresistible charm to fall back on. . ."

"You're delusional, Malfoy."

"What, you don't find me incredibly good-looking?"

"It's hard for me to say about other guys, but I'd say your chunky hair alone disqualifies you."

Draco forced himself not to run a hand over his hair. "Oh, shut up, Fowl. You have no taste anyway."

He then turned to Holly, gave her one of his best smiles, and kissed her hand. "It was a pleasure to see you again. I wish you good health."

Root chuckled at her expression. Artemis looked at Butler and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not ready to acknowledge that you have irresistible charm yet, either, Mud Boy, but keep trying," Holly smirked.

"What about the dashing good looks?" Butler asked, supremely curious to what she'd say.

"It's hard for me to say about humans, but see me when you're about ten years older, and I'll tell you then."

"Why are you all so mean?" Malfoy pouted.

----------------------------------------


	8. 8: He's Alive!

The Family Name--The Arctic Incident

By Elbereth in April

A/N: So that we don't confuse Artemis Sr. and Artemis the Second, sometimes I will refer to Mr. Fowl as Timmy, which is Angeline's pet name for her husband.

Chapter 8: He's Alive!

They floo'd from the fireplace of a tavern. More than a few people gave the group strange looks. Two dirty boys, a man as big as a troll, an injured, unconscious body--they weren't exactly inconspicuous.

"Durmstrang Infirmary!"

They came out in a room that was predominantly white, and extraordinarily clean. A row of beds stood along the far wall. Butler laid Mr. Fowl down on one.

Draco looked around for some sort of office. He found a likely-looking door in the corner and was just getting ready to knock when it opened. A tall, thin man with dark brown hair and a mustache closed the door behind him and looked them over. "I'm Alexander Kochevikov, mediwizard. Please state your business."

"We have an injured man."

"We do not treat outside patients. Sorry. Try the St. Petronella Clinic." He moved as if to open his door again.

Draco's chin lifted in his most superior manner. "I am Draco Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy's son."

The man immediately tried to smile deferentially, even though it came out a bit formal and stiff. "My my, Lucius Malfoy's Heir! It's been too long since he was here last. . . we've hardly seen him since your mother's unfortunate decision to send you to Hogwarts. . . such a shame. . ."

"This is Artemis Fowl the Second. I'm sure you've heard of him. His father is injured. I am sure you would be able to help."

"Of course, well, for **you** we can make an exception. My job **is** to heal. . ." Another awkward smile, then he walked over to the bed and examined Artemis Senior. He frowned at the man's appearance. "What has happened to him?"

"Shipwreck and. . . poor living conditions for a long period afterward," Artemis replied.

"I will see what I can do."

They sat down nearby and watched Kochevikov work on his patient. About five minutes later another man entered the infirmary. He was also tall and thin, with a goatee and an oily voice. "I am Headmaster Karkaroff." He began shaking everyone's hand. "Pleased to meet you. The paintings told me you were here. I understand you came seeking healing."

"Yes. Fowl's father was injured. He requires treatment."

"He will get it, of course. Allow me to show you around. Perhaps you'll decide to switch schools, eh?"

Artemis looked over at his father, then at Malfoy, who nodded reassuringly. "You can trust them **that** much, anyway. We'll have awhile before Kochevikov finishes, we might as well."

"Fine then. Why don't you show us the library?"

"You're so pathetic, Fowl."

"You whine too much, Malfoy."

"It's all right," Butler told the Headmaster, "they're always like this."

Karkaroff led them down the halls. "Notice the flying buttresses..."

"Indeed."

A ghost flew past them with a huge Scimitar on its back.

"What's that ghost doing with that weapon? Surely he didn't use it in class."

"Don't any of your Hogwarts ghosts have weaponry?"

"Surely not--you're Hogwarts students?" The ghost asked, stopping and floating back. "Why, I don't think there have been any of those here since I last used this blade--at one of the last Tri-Wizard Tournaments!"

"What's the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

"Ah, those were the days," the ghost sighed happily. "The tournament was a competition held between the three premiere wizarding schools: Durmstrang, Hogwarts, and Beaubatons. Each school had one student who would represent them in three assigned tasks. Each was judged according to their performance. The schools would take turns hosting the tournament. Unfortunately, it is no longer held. It was ruled too dangerous many years ago--the contestants kept dying."

"That would put a damper on things." Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Is that how you died?"

"No--I choked on some stroganoff. But I did get to use this scimitar there! I fought a minotaur. Beat him, too. It was a highlight of my life." He wiped a ghostly tear from his eye.

"Yes, thank you, moving on," Karkaroff insisted.

A few minutes later, Karkaroff showed them into the library, which was approximately the same size as Hogwarts, but had far more books relating to the Dark Arts, just as Artemis had hoped.

"We'll just settle in and wait then," Artemis told Karkaroff. "We'll read something to keep ourselves occupied."

"But. . ."

"No need to wait around for us, I'm sure you have many important things to do. You are the Headmaster, after all."

Draco smirked at the way Fowl trampled right through all of the man's objections until he felt he had no choice but to leave. He couldn't admit he wasn't really all that important, now could he?

After the man had gone, Artemis began to read his way through as much of the library as he could. Butler was given permission to use Artemis's fairy-powered laptop, and Draco abandoned the book he had idly selected to look over Butler's shoulder.

"You have another email from Miss Granger," Butler reported.

"Email?"

"Electronic mail. Letters sent over the internet."

"Oooh, you get letters from Granger, Fowl? Are they love letters? Admittedly, Granger doesn't seem the type for gushy poetry, but she may do it just to confuse you. . ."

"I'm ignoring you, Malfoy."

"Not very well, obviously."

Butler chuckled.

"Let me write her!"

"You can not send hate-mail to Granger. Especially not from my account."

"Fine, I'll get my own account and send hate-mail to you. What's an account and could my father find out if I had one?"

"I wouldn't think so, unless he saw you using a computer. Your account is like. . . a combination of a personal owl and your home address."

"I could set you up with an account," Butler offered.

"Go ahead if it'll keep him quiet," Artemis said.

"**You** weren't consulted," Malfoy sneered. "Go on, show me, Butler."

----------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, a portrait of Paracelsus informed them that Kochevikov had finished and they returned to the Infirmary. "He is healed except for the missing leg," the medi-wizard told them. "You can get him a magical replacement easily enough, but I have none here. I haven't woken him up yet. I thought you might prefer to wait until you have reached your destination. A simple Enervate will do it."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem. Perhaps Lucius would like to come visit us again sometime."

"I'll tell him you asked after him," Draco replied, suddenly wondering what repercussions this visit could have and what exactly he was going to tell his father.

Butler picked up Mr. Fowl. "Where will we be flooing to?"

"The only places I know in Dublin are the hotel we were staying in and the pub at the Shades--um, that's the Irish equivalent of Knockturn Alley, if you didn't know. You need to get your manor hooked up to the floo network, Fowl."

"Apparently so."

"We need to go somewhere close to where we can acquire Muggle transportation," the bodyguard said.

"Might I suggest Aethelfrith's Apothecary? It is owned by a fine Potionmaker and his establishment is located on the Muggle-Wizarding boundary. He also sells Muggle medicines, you see."

They looked at each other. "All right. Let's go there."

"Tell Prof. Kakaroff we appreciated his hospitality."

Kochevikov nodded goodbye and watched them depart through the fireplace.

--------------------------------------------------------

Aethelfrith the potions-seller was rather surprised by their appearance in his apothecary, but shrugged it off. He even let them wait in his backroom for the car Artemis called for, after Draco bought a large number of ingredients from him.

While they waited, they questioned the man about magical prosthetic legs, and were given the name of a person who specialized in that area. The car and chauffer arrived promptly to drive them back to Fowl Manor.

"Try and locate Mother and Juliet on vacation as soon as we get home," Artemis instructed Butler as they rode along. "I don't want to go hunting through every spa in Europe looking for them."

"Yes, Artemis."

"And make sure my accounts are well hidden. No need for Father to know exactly what I've been up to for the past two years."

Butler smiled. "Yes, Artemis."

Draco leaned over, grinning widely. "Exactly what all **have** you been up to?"

Artemis shoved him away. "None of your business, Malfoy. When were you planning on going home, anyway?"

"I'm meeting your father, Fowl. Don't think about kicking me out til then."

"Is that really necessary?"

"I think I've earned it."

Artemis swallowed. "Oh. Well. Yes, fine."

Butler grinned at Draco. "You actually shut him up."

"Butler!"

"Oh, sorry, Artemis. I am, of course, on my employer's side at all times."

"Right," Draco smirked.

-------------------------------------------

Draco was sensitive enough to let Fowl wake his father up privately. No matter how curious he was to see it. In the car, Fowl and Butler had worked out a much edited version of events to tell Mr. Fowl, so he knew that much. The rest would be too personal.

Which of course was why Draco wanted to see it.

He contented himself with snagging Fowl's laptop from their luggage to play with while he waited in the guestroom. After all, it wasn't often the other boy was too preoccupied to notice something like that--he had to take his opportunities when they came.

He congratulated himself on remembering how to search the Internet--a lot of things had happened since Holly's explanation. He typed in "Malfoy" just to see if anything would come up, then changed his mind and searched for "Artemis Fowl" instead.

--------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the Fowl master bedroom. . .

"Enervate."

Artemis felt his pulse racing as his father's eyelids fluttered open. He hid the wand in his pocket quickly. He'd get to all that eventually.

Timmy looked at his son, then over at Butler, standing by the door, then back to his son. He frowned in confusion. The last thing he remembered was bidding his family goodbye before a business trip. What was going on?

"Father," Artemis greeted, his voice coming out far less steady than he would have liked.

Timmy blinked. Wait--this couldn't be his son. He was too old.

"You've been unwell."

"Have I?" He took stock of himself. He did appear to be rather weary, and--he drew in a sharp breath. Part of his leg was gone. He swallowed hard.

"Your ship sank on its way to Russia--two years ago. You've been missing since. You were presumed dead, in fact. But, well. . . I kept searching. We finally found you."

Timmy's eyes were wide. _'This can't be true!' _he thought, but apparently it was.

"You're back home now. Mother's in France, as it happens, but she'll be returning as soon as she can. I know it's a shock." He bit his lip, most unlike himself, and looked over at Butler for reassurance.

"Something of a shock, yes," his father answered dazedly. "Where have I been for two years? Why can't I remember?"

Butler stepped forward. "You were abducted by the Russian Mafiya and only recently regained consciousness. We. . . contracted a small group to free you, then you underwent medical treatment. Now here you are. One of the healers said some memory loss was likely."

_'Well-phrased,'_ Artemis thought. He wasn't feeling at his complete best, himself.

There was a long silence as Timmy processed all this. "I see," he said at last. "So. . . two years. You've grown, Artemis."

Artemis stood a bit straighter. "Yes, Father."

"How. . . how have things been?"

"I think you will find that the family bank accounts are healthy, and I trust you will approve of the stock portfolio. It has yielded an 18 return in the past financial year. 18 is quite exemplary in the current market. I haven't failed you."

Timmy blinked. Finances? The boy was giving him finances? Is that what he thought was important? _'Is that what--is that what I taught him?'_

"How do you feel, sir?" Butler interrupted.

"Fine, actually. Just a little tired. But if I've been asleep for so long, I think I'd like to get out of bed." He forced a smile.

The manservant helped him sit up. "Put him in that chair, Butler," Artemis ordered.

As that was being done, Artemis spoke again. "Now, Father, there is one other thing you should know. Do you believe in magic?"

Timmy's face went carefully blank. "Why do you ask?"

"I recently learned that I'm a wizard."

Timmy studied his face. If he remembered correctly--granted, he hadn't been around nearly enough--his son didn't joke. "You're serious."

Artemis pulled out his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," he cast on the chair, which rose a few inches off the ground. "Agilus Actus." He looked at his father. "Tell it to go."

Timmy's eyes were narrowed. "Go."

The chair started to slowly move forward. "Stop!" It stopped.

"Better than crutches, right? We didn't have time to get a more. . . mundane wheelchair ordered. But this. . ."

"Hardly seems explainable," Timmy interrupted. "I'll be seeing a lot of people. I believe a more--mundane, as you put it--method of transportation will be necessary."

"Well, yes, but. . ."

"How did you make this discovery, anyway?"

Artemis's hand was sweaty on his wand. His father had always been a bit gruff and focused on making money, but the way he was behaving now was a bit. . . un-nerving. Was he going to be shunned for not being--normal? "I got a letter saying I'd been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They keep tabs on magical people. I attended there last year."

"Did you? Your mother approved?"

"She was quite excited. I've learned a lot, too. I'm--I'm working on alchemy."

"You enjoy it, then? You like being a wizard?"

"Yes, Father."

"I see. Well then, it all seems settled. But for now, I'm starving."

"I'll arrange for sandwiches," Butler put in.

_'Was that it?' _Artemis wondered. Apparently, his father just had to get used to the idea. Artemis felt relief rush through him like a tidal wave. He smiled.

Butler continued, heading for the door, "I'll go tell Draco we'll be having lunch."

Timmy looked at him. "Draco?"

"Oh," Artemis answered, "he's my. . . associate," he concluded at the same time Butler said, "Friend."

Artemis ignored this. "He's visiting from England. He's in my year at school."

"He's a wizard, too." Artemis nodded. "I don't remember ever meeting any of your friends before."

"Well. . . no. I've never brought anyone home." Artemis shifted a bit uncomfortably. Not to mention, he'd never had anyone to bring.

--------------------------------------------

A/N: One more short chapter, then next week look for the sequel, _The Family Name--Third Year._

The name for the bad part of town, The Shades, is from Terry Pratchett's books--you must read them. The flying buttresses reference is from Disney's _Beauty and the Beast._ I took the Russian name Kochevikov out of a trilogy by C. J. Cherryh. It starts with _Rusalka. _Read those, too! The spell on the chair basically tells it to be self-propelling.


	9. 9: Goodbye for the Summer

The Family Name--The Arctic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 9: Goodbye for the Summer

Draco smoothed back his hair, pausing outside the dining room. He found he was quite nervous about meeting Fowl's father. If the man didn't like him, would his son break off their alliance? He liked them being allies. He hadn't realized how much he'd like it until this visit. Of course, that didn't make them friends, they were just--Draco shook his head. Their relationship was too complicated for him to figure out, anyway. He resolved not to think about it, and pushed open the door to the dining room.

The table had ingredients for sandwiches spread out all over it. Butler was setting out plates for everyone. They looked up as Draco entered. He came over to Mr. Fowl, who shook his hand automatically. The man was smiling friendly enough, but there was something cold and unwelcoming about the eyes that made Draco tense up.

"Father, this is Draco Malfoy," Artemis introduced them. "Malfoy, this is my father."

Draco called upon his years of Malfoy training for polite company and gave his most charming smile. "Pleased to meet you." He sat down next to Artemis.

Tim nodded. "Artemis has been telling me about his school. Your name comes up quite often."

Draco looked at Artemis, who carefully looked only at the tablecloth.

Butler came to his rescue. "It's make your own sandwich. Everyone dig in."

Once everyone's plate was filled, Tim continued the conversation. "You come from a long line of wizards, Artemis tells me."

"Yes. You've had quite a few prestigious ancestors in the Fowl line, as well," Draco answered, despite not really wanting to admit that.

The man's mouth twitched minutely. _'What is he thinking?' _Draco wondered. _'That was a compliment.'_

Artemis was starting to worry again. His father seemed to have adjusted to the idea and to be accepting of magic. But was he really? Something about his behavior seemed to be--off. He couldn't decide.

"Yes. . ."

"We both belong to Slytherin House," Draco said, changing the subject. He didn't really want to talk about families.

"Hogwarts has four Houses," Artemis explained. "They compete with each other for the House Cup every year. Something of a rivalry exists between them--especially in Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" Tim frowned in confusion.

"It's a very popular sport in the wizarding world. Seven players, three balls, and broomsticks. I'm the Slytherin Seeker," Draco reported proudly.

"Something he's actually pretty good at."

"Like that's so surprising!"

Artemis smirked. "It is."

"I'll have you know, I'm good at a **lot** of things."

"Really? I've never seen any signs. . ."

"Fowl. . ."

"Okay, fine, I'll admit you might have a small amount of magical talent."

Draco tightened his grip on the mayonnaise bottle, looking over at Fowl's father. He seemed to be taking their teasing in stride. Draco never would have been so open and disrespectful like this in front of his own father. "Expect to wake up tomorrow with Malfoy tattooed on your chest," he taunted back after a tiny pause.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You'd only give Parkinson more ideas."

"Never mind then." Draco actually blushed a little.

Artemis hid a smile with a bite of sandwich.

"Oh? Who's Parkinson?"

"Just a girl," Draco answered hastily.

Artemis nodded emphatically. "She's a bit strange, really."

Once the topic turned from magic, Mr. Fowl seemed to mellow and the boys unconsciously relaxed. Draco asked the adult about his business. Tim turned out to have a witty sense of humor.

"What are you doing in Ireland if you're from England?" he asked towards the end of the meal.

"My dad's here on business. I came here with him."

"What does your father do?"

Draco fidgeted a little. "Um, he's in politics. And he invests in various--financial opportunities."

"I see. Well, tell him he's welcome to come over for dinner some evening while he's here."

Draco quite deliberately smiled. "I'm afraid he'll be too busy this time. He doesn't get much free time for purely social activities."

Tim nodded, regarding him shrewdly.

Draco didn't break eye contact until Tim turned away to direct a question to Butler. Draco hid his relief, dropping his stare to the crusts of his sandwich and playing with the tablecloth. Now was not the time to get into a discussion of purebloods, Mudbloods, Dark wizards, and why it would be a very bad idea to invite Lucius Malfoy to tea.

-------------------------

A few hours later, Mrs. Fowl and Juliet arrived home, and a very touching reunion took place. Angeline shed many joyful tears, upon which Artemis and Draco escaped to Draco's room, and Artemis discovered Malfoy's "borrowage" of his computer. Artemis became indignant, Draco laughed, they both threatened the other with painful curses but never actually drew wands, and Draco finally agreed to give it back if Fowl would come flying with him.

They went out behind the house, broomsticks in hand.

"Can you keep up?"

Artemis hesitated. Despite everything, he was still more of a thinker than a doer. "Depends on what all you're wanting to do."

Draco gave this some thought, then mounted his broom. "Just get behind me. I told you I was taking you joy riding, didn't I? Let's go."

Artemis hesitated again, but if he refused he knew Malfoy would make fun of him. So he sighed, laid his own broom by the door, and climbed on behind Malfoy. "If you crash us, I'll never let you live it down."

Draco grinned and kicked off to the sky.

Mr. and Mrs. Fowl watched them from a window. "Isn't everything just perfect?" Angeline sighed.

Tim's arm around her shoulders unconsciously tightened. "I disapprove of all this. . . magic. It's not normal."

"Even without magic, he wasn't normal," she laughed. "But now, he's **happy. **He has **friends**. For the first time."

"I suppose it's all arranged for him to return to that school."

"Yes." She looked up at him with big, bright eyes.

Tim gave a sigh of his own. He had woken up, for some reason, not caring so much for money anymore, and regretting a lot of his past. He was thinking now of the importance of family, and how he didn't want to disappoint his wife anymore. "Fine. . ."

She snuggled up against him contently. From outside, they could hear their son yelling at his schoolmate, "Slow down and be careful of trees or I'll turn your hair pink!"

"Just perfect," Angeline smiled.

--------------------

Two days later, Draco stood in the doorway, telling Fowl goodbye. A cab and an invisible house elf waited for him.

"I'm glad I came," he said simply, and started down the steps.

"Malfoy, wait." Artemis stepped after him. He shifted uncomfortably, then finally blurted out, "Why did you save my life? In Koboi Labs, why did you--do that?"

Draco had thought he was going to get away without being asked this question. "Um. . ." He sat down his trunk, playing with the handle. "Really. . . I don't know, exactly. I just sort of moved." Then he looked up, and smiled. "But what kind of ally would I be if I just let you die, right?"

Artemis stared a moment, then slowly nodded, swallowing hard. "Oh. Well. Thank you. For everything. I'm glad we're still under alliance."

"No problem." Malfoy thrust out his hand.

Artemis shook it. "I guess I'll see you in 3 weeks."

"Yeah." He picked up his trunk again. "Fowl. . . I'm glad you got your father back." Malfoy hurriedly turned away and bounded down the last few steps.

The cabbie took his trunk and loaded it in the taxi. Draco called back to the other boy, still standing on the steps, "Don't get in any trouble."

Artemis favored him with an innocent expression.

"You're not fooling me with that face, Mr. Oh-Hide-My-Accounts-Please." Artemis quickly looked over his shoulder, but his parents weren't in hearing distance. "You're more trouble than me, and I'm plenty devious myself."

"Hmm, could this be the first step toward your realization that I'm better than you?"

A half-smirk. "You're not fooling anybody with that, either. See you in 3 weeks." He got in the cab and closed the door. He waved once as the car pulled out of the drive.

Artemis watched him go, back to Lucius Malfoy. "See you," he said, even though the other boy could no longer hear. "I won't forget. Anything."

**END**

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A/N: "I don't know why I saved you" was inspired in part by _Naruto_ manga. Now then, this story is over. I will be posting the next part, **_The Family Name--Third Year_**, very soon. So look for it! And a big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! You're all so cool!


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